Before You Forget About Me
by MadeOfSunshine
Summary: Ichigo has died and is living as a real Shinigami in Soul Society. Naturally, death means he's forgotten all of his memories from when he was alive, but Grimmjow is determined to remind him of something. They were a lot closer than Ichigo remembers.
1. Chapter 1

_Before You Forget About Me_

_Chapter One: In Another Life _

Hitsugaya was still young and reckless. Renji Abarai had to grab him back at the collar to restrain him. "Easy, lowlife."

Hitsugaya shot him a withering glare at the suggestion. He bit his comment about how utterly ironic that was back with effort. He tugged himself free of Renji. "Can't believe we're letting him get away."

"I know."

"With that…attitude of his."

Renji had felt conflicting emotions at the attitude their friend had displayed too. He didn't appreciate being abandoned, but he appreciated being shunned for caring about it even less so. "Guy's a dick, granted."

"Stupid Ichigo." Traces of defeat wove into his words. They had never seen Ichigo act like this before.

It was like he was hiding something.

Don't come with me, he'd said. And something about breathing space.

Hitsugaya's nose creased into his frown. "I'm going back."

"To headquarters?"

Hitsugaya's eyes revealed he wasn't so sure. "To you know where."

{*XOXOX*}

Ichigo kept his gaze high, above the edge of the rock face. When he thought all was clear, he dipped down into the hollow cleft there.

"You really think no one's gonna find you here?"

Grimmjow's teeth came through his snarl like an animal's. A feral sound slipped though his teeth. "You don't want to keep it down by any chance, do you?"

Ichigo sighed, still depressed that he'd had to turn on his friends that way. It wasn't their fault they'd nearly caught him out stealing food for Grimmjow. It was…stupid Grimmjow's.

"Here, stupid Arrancar," Ichigo dug out the piece of bread he'd gotten off the counter in Rukia's house, tossing it into awaiting paws. "Hope it's worth it."

"Aha," Grimmjow said disinterestedly. He surveyed the bread for a moment, reluctant to bite into it so soon.

"What?" Ichigo's attempt not to care went to nothing. He glowered at Grimmjow. "Don't say you don't want it, you ungrateful…"

Grimmjow had scoffed it up already, striking a glance at Ichigo before he could yell at him further. "Hmph. Bread. What do you take me for."

Ichigo ignored the unappreciative remark. "So, when are you gonna be out of here?" Ichigo had been pushing for a week already. Grimmjow couldn't escape his enemies forever.

"See first, I'm gonna wait a while…"

"Aha…"

"Let this whole thing blow over…"

"Oh, joy."

Grimmjow nodded, resolute his plan would carry him to safety. "The world's quite unfair sometimes, huh Ichigo?"

"Oh, like you have any idea."

{*XOXOX*}

"I knew it," Hitsugaya was exclaiming loudly, casting his angry eyes across the room. "Byakuya is with him on this one!"

The vacancy of the house seemed to imply Byakuya was out at the moment, not necessarily that he was out with Ichigo.

Renji replied with a sarcastic smile, "Yeah…My Captain is bust I tell you."

"Why else would Ichiho visit Byakuya, Renji? Come on."

"Maybe he was just visiting Rukia."

"You're so naive," Hitsugaya's childishness was hardly ever detectable in everyday life. What had given birth to this side of him?

They should never have formed the Ichigo-Renji-Hitsugaya friendship deal they'd thought would be fun for doing missions together. Look how that had backfired. Ichigo had waved his goodbyes and left Renji alone with Hitsugaya in the stupid team that he could never leave now. Well, without the whole thing being personal against Hitsugaya anyway.

Reni broke from his reverie as the sound of moving furniture caught his attention. "Hitsugaya, are you stupid? Put that back where you found it."

"What's this?" Hitsugaya asked, pulling something up from under the couch.

A small strand of blue hair stared back at Renji.

"A…piece of blue fluff?"

"You know what Ichigo's doing now, right? Don't you?"

{*XOXOX*}

Ichigo pulled his hand up, stifling a sneeze unsuccessfully. "Ah-chuu!"

Grimmjow picked the corners of his mouth up into a smile for him. "Aww."

"Shut it. It's below seventy degrees out here. Why won't you come inside?"

"Well, that would just be plain uncomplicated, wouldn't it?"

"Who are you so afraid of? My dad? My sisters?"

"Your friends, Ichigo," Grimmjow placed emphasis on the word. "I'm not exactly good Shinigami company."

Ichigo had barely remembered that part. He couldn't fathom why he himself needed to be wary of Grimmjow when he was cramped like a stubborn child in the hollow crevice of a boulder in the far edges of a Soul Society town somewhere. Hiding from bigger demons.

"Why'd you do it, Grimmjow?"

"What?"

"Why'd you save me?" Ichigo revisited the memory, unsure he could count on it. How reliable had his mind been back when it had created it?

Grimmjow turning on Ulquiorra. Gin and Tousen being caught off guard at the sheer brutality of Grimmjow's defense of Ichigo.

Ichigo's expression demanded an answer.

Grimmjow sighed before forcing one for him. "Do you remember anything, Ichigo? About when you were alive?"

Ichigo took pause, holding his thoughts together. The words evoked something.

"Before you and your family died and came up to Soul Society, you were alive. Do you remember that?"

Ichigo shook his head faintly.

"Do you remember why you died?"

He wasn't answered. Grimmjow acknowledged that his Soul Society friends had probably kept him in the dark about it. Understandable. But not very brave of them.

"Oh, so you didn't forgive them then," Grimmjow realized something else aloud, smiling emptily. "You just don't know."

"So what are you getting at?" Ichigo tried returning to the conversation. "You still can't tell me why you jumped in front of me back there."

"Some people retain their memories after death, Ichigo. You must be stupid or something."

"What does that mean?"

Grimmjow picked himself up from the rock face in one fluid movement. He stuck his face in Ichigo's until their mouths were a breath apart. "It means…that this…doesn't really feel all that uncomfortable for you, does it Ichigo?"

"Uh…" Ichigo was too shocked to react for a moment, not grasping the situation in its entirety. He wanted to say that it felt weird, but it really didn't. "What's that supposed to mean…Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow knocked his jaw forwards and closed the gap between them. The kiss was something brief. It lingered before Grimmjow drew away again.

"Didn't feel all that weird, did it? Ichigo?" Things Grimmjow wasn't telling him stirred in his blue gaze.

Ichigo felt a cold like liquid drop down his spine. "Grimmjow…You…"

"That's the funny thing," Grimmjow said without hearing him out, caught up in a breath of laughter. "It was you."

{*XOXOX*}

_This is the first part of a short series I'm doing about GrimmIchi. _

_In case anyone's still confused after reading this, the story goes that Ichigo has somehow and died and is now living in Soul Society as a real Shinigami, but has somehow lost all his memories from before death(which is probably just a consequence of death.)_

_This isn't so much the first chapter as a prologue technically._

_This is just to get you to grips with the idea that Ichigo has forgotten something…that is apparently very important to Grimmjow.~_

_Hope you like it!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Before You Forget About Me_

_Chapter 2: That's What You Said The Last Time_

There was a growing shadow approaching the front doorway. The silhouette looked familiar to both Renji and Hitsugaya as they stood across from each other in Byakuya's lounge.

Renji stood looking naively down at Hitsugaya for only a second longer before he remembered they were trespassing. Panic gripped him."Oh, wait a minute. Crap!"

He rushed off to hide in the nearest room that wasn't going to be in Byakuya's immediate view. Hitsugaya stood in brave disregard for Byakuya 's finding them. Wasn't his Captain.

Byakuya gained admittance into his house through the front door and stared at the unexpected sight of the tenth squad Captain.

He didn't look welcoming about the invasion of his home. "Hitsuga…"

"I knew it," Hitsugaya said accusingly.

There was a distinct crash as someone broke something in a room beyond the lounge, and Byakuya frowned pitifully in Renji's general direction. "You know, if this is a break in, you're supposed to leave…before I get back here."

"I know how to break in, thank you."

Disinterest consumed Byakuya's gaze for a lasting moment. "Right." He preoccupied himself with moving towards the kitchen. Probably hoping they'd disappear if he ignored them; that usually worked.

"Didn't you learn anything the first time round, Byakuya?"

Byakuya disappeared into the kitchen midway through Hitsugaya's sentence. He rearranged some things noisily before reemerging with the same blank expression. "Oh. Still here."

"Do you know where Ichigo is," Hitsugaya proceeded with determinedly. "Right now? Well, do you?"

"No," Byakuya admitted, sounding tired as he leant against the kitchen doorframe. "Not really."

"Strange. Cos he was in here just before he left."

"Hm hm."

"He just, came in here for something. And now he's disappeared. What an interesting development."

"And, what makes you think I helped him in his endeavors?"

"Gee, I don't know. Couldn't possibly be the fact that, oh yeah, you helped him the last time."

"Okay, what is going on?" Byakuya resigned himself to getting involved, facing the agitated Captain slowly. "Has Ichigo done something?"

"Ichigo's found Grimmjow again."

An exasperation entered Byakuya's tenor. "Again?"

"Before he died, you thought it would be okay to let this happen. Cos you understood love or whatever."

The clear image of Rukia's sister, his deceased wife, crossed through Byakuya's mind. He pushed it away without revealing he'd ever thought of it.

"Would have been great and all," Hitsugaya raved on, "but it got him killed! Do you understand love now?"

Byakuya said nothing. There was the faint but distracting sound of Renji picking up fallen objects like no one had ever noticed him in the next room.

"We can stop him this time," Byakuya decided.

"Well we couldn't. Maybe you can."

Byakuya nodded in supposed agreement. He thought about the information they did have. "So, how long has he been gone for?"

"About six hours."

"That is one unlucky number."

"I'll say."

{*XOXOX*}

"That one," Grimmjow was saying, with a definite point at a thin, loner guy in glasses. "Weak link. Right there."

Ichigo wore his most unimpressed expression as he faced Grimmjow. "No."

"What?"

"You can't hunt people!"

Grimmjow frowned as though Ichigo were misunderstanding the situation. "But I'm starving!"

"I already fed you!"

"No you didn't. You gave me…bread." At the smoldering expression Ichigo issued him, he mindfully added, "That doesn't count."

His body leant in towards his victim again.

Ichigo realized how close he was to being serious. "Okay, fine! I'll help you find real food or something. Just please, get that guy out of your target sights."

"I don't think I can wait much longer, I…"

"Just…stay here a second," Ichigo said, noting Grimmjow's predator eyes tracking the guy as he walked through the market lane.

Grimmjow nodded in unconvincing agreement, on a distant planet. "Aha."

"In fact, just come with me."

"Come with you?"

"We're going to feed you…And you're not eating people in the meantime."

"How are you going to take me into the city when I look like this?"

"I'm not. I'll sneak you into my house."

A quick thought entered Grimmjow's mind. "Um…your dad might remember me. Yeah, he doesn't like me so much…" Vague recollections tugged at Grimmjow when he remembered the episode. "Really wasn't my fault though. He should control his son better…"

"What? Just, come on."

"I really…don't think it's such a great idea…" Ichigo stared at him with those familiar bright eyes for so long that it eventually began to make sense against reason, and he just said, "But okay."

{*XOXOX*}

"How angry are you?" Hitsugaya looked for empathy as he turned conversation on Byakuya for the twelfth time since they'd started walking. "Cos I'm like, gonna-kill-him angry!"

"Yes. It's all very enraging," Byakuya admitted, more referring to Hitsugaya's incessant conversations. "Look, I have an idea to make it go faster. Let's split up."

"Really? You think that's such a good idea? What if we find them? What if Grimmjow's still angry…about what we…"

"You mean what you…"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Well then what are you so worried about?"

"Uh…" Flashing recalls of slicing his Bankai at Grimmjow when he was already down and out sprung to mind before he could ward them off. "Um…Okay, maybe I did do something…"

"Do you think it'll make a difference this time?"

"What, that we find them?"

"Well even if we do find them. That we talk to them. Really think he'll listen? He didn't the last time."

"You mean Ichigo?"

"I mean both of them."

{*XOXOX*}

"So…about this other life I used to have…" Ichigo was asking, back propped up against his bedroom wall while Grimmjow ate random combinations of food off his pillow.

"Ah-hm."

"What were you doing in it?"

"Excuse me?" Grimmjow sounded insulted, even going so far as to stop eating for a moment to look up at Ichigo.

Ichigo managed not to falter, pressing onwards with, "What I mean is…"

"Ichigo." Grimmjow pushed up off the bed and abandoned his food to close the gap between them. He leant his hand alongside Ichigo's head, half caging him against the wall.

"Yeah?" Ichigo said with a wondering frown, maintaining eye level with his forward guest.

Grimmjow bared a fanged smile before speaking. "Ichigo, I was your life before this."

Lost fragments of a story began to interweave in Ichigo's mind. His thoughts staggered. "Wait, you mean you…"

"Do me a favor. Touch my hair."

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Just touch it."

"I'm not gonna touch your hair," Ichigo said with finality, regardless of where the suggestion was going. "Forget about it."

"Ichigo," Grimmjow said with suppressed laughter. "Just touch it. What's the big deal?"

"Um, it is the big deal."

"You've done it before."

Ichigo's eyes stung him. There was something he wouldn't ask out loud even though he wondered intensely. Had he done…more than that before?

"Grimmjow, what kind of life was I living?' Ichigo had to muster the words, flashing an imploring gaze into Grimmjow's eyes. He stood just a foot under the Arrancar.

Grimmjow smiled as the opportunity to explain matters presented itself. "Okay, crazy story. But let's start with the first time you met me on the battlefield during the whole war thing, wanna know the story?"

"I don't know, do I wanna know the story?"

"We said some stuff about stuff and then you did this…"

"What're you…"

Grimmjow pushed a brief kiss onto Ichigo's mouth to silence him, pulling back almost instantly.

"Why did you do that?" Ichigo was through with being surprised, instead facing Grimmjow with a blatantly unimpressed stare.

"To shut you up. Same reason you did it to me when we met on the battlefield."

Ichigo's voice came out sarcastic. "Sure…Then what happened?" He realized that might be a dangerous question to raise, especially if Grimmjow demonstrated. "Wait, why's this story come with demonstrations!"

"Just in case you were wondering. Ichigo, do you at least remember why you died yet?"

"No! And just tell me." Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Why you always gotta be so cryptic?"

"I don't want to tell you. I want you to remember."

"Well that's helpful." Ichigo grew exasperated and tried slipping round Grimmjow. Before he could, Grimmjow's second arm came up and barred him in completely.

Ichigo stared at him, bordering on anger. He sucked in a breath before coming out with, "I can't remember, Grimmjow. It's how death works."

Grimmjow searched for something in his eyes as he stood before him. Honesty, maybe. "You sure?"

"I'm sure," Ichigo watched Grimmjow remove both hands from the wall, freeing him. Griimjow took himself over to the bed again and sat down sulkily.

Ichigo felt sympathetic for a moment and decided to join the troubled Arrancar. He sat lightly down beside him, unthinkingly moving a hand to brush at Grimmjow's streaks of blue hair like a comfort gesture. "Grimmjow…"

It was like lightening had charged Grimmjow's gaze. "That's it. That's what you used to do. You can remember."

"I…" Ichigo paused without retracting his hand, trying to gain ground before Grimmjow dominated the conversation with his 'I-didn't-die-so-I-know-you-better-than-you-do' manner of talking. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Remember something else," Grimmjow pleaded quickly, sure they were on the brink of something. "Anything! What you used to say, what you used to do…"

"Ichigo!" His father's voice came trilling pleasantly down the hall between the sounds of a slamming front door. "I'm back, son."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes, making for the window in a single bound."Well I have to go. Ichigo, at least remember me until I get back to your room later."

It was just a jab at the fact that he was so forgetful now. "Of course I'll remember you."

Grimmjow looked back with poignant doubt set in his dark blue eyes. "That's what you said before you died."

{*XOXOX*}

_I'd love your reviews! ~_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
The King and His Sword

YEARS AGO…

Ichigo, 17. Alive.

_Ichigo stilled himself. The approach of a lone Arrancar was not aberrant. It was the sight of one when that loneliness reached into its eyes that unnerved him._

This one had blue hair. The most vibrant of all the Arrancar he'd seen.

Ichigo called out to it before it had spotted him. "Arrancar, why are you out this far?"

Its eyes were tired as it lifted them. Even at this distance, blood was clearly dripping down its face. The mask on its face was slowly dyeing red.

Grimmjow saw his Shinigami enemy with a reluctant will to defend himself. He was fortunate that Ichigo thought twice before jumping on the injured.

"I've given you warning," Ichigo spoke again, readying his black sword at his side. "Stand down."

Grimmjow thought about it. There was still blood in his mouth when he opened it in a painful smile. "Easy, Shinigami. This isn't the time to be making enemies."

"And why is that?"

"Because Aizen is already…." Grimmjow paused to regain his breath, having emptied it in getting this far.

He must have been truly deranged, Ichigo reckoned, to seek refuge with his greatest enemies. "Are you looking for help from Soul Society, Arrancar? Or is this an attack?"

"An attack?" Grimmjow spit from his jaws bitterly, suppressing the laughter that stung his wounded chest. "I hope your sword is sharp, Shinigami..."Ichigo resumed a battle stance as Grimmjow spoke the words, but he hadn't been prepared for the next part. "…Because your wit ain't."

Ichigo tried to place the scene, as the Arrancar turned the situation around again. He was battling to understand why he should attack this already mostly defeated Arrancar. And why he didn't want to. "Are you friend or enemy? Choose one."

Grimmjow slid to his knees, the weight of his headache suddenly too much for him. He spoke as though it was normal for an Arrancar to be before a Shinigami. Ichigo just felt sorry for him. "I'll let you decide," he said with confidence. "But I will warn you that Aizen is going to destroy your little Soul Society, whether I'm in it or not."

Ichigo took a step towards Grimmjow. The first step. "You're injured."

Grimmjow had never forgotten the first time a Shinigami came towards him with his sword down.

PRESENT DAY…

Renji preened his hair back into a high ponytail unblinkingly. The encounter he'd heard moments ago between Hitsugaya and Byakuya could not have just taken place. …So they were going to play the game Grimmjow's way again, were they? Talking to Ichigo was not going to be useful. Being dead hadn't made Ichigo any wiser; it had just given him less to lose.

Renji stepped outside of the room he'd ducked into for cover without working out who else might be home.

"Ni-san, I…Hey, Renji?" Rukia's face fell instantly. She had come home late for no real reason, expecting her brother to be home and amiable by the look of it. "Why're you here?" Her face suddenly lit up before he got the chance to answer. Something about the way he was midway through readjusting his pony tail made her blush excitedly. "Oh, Ni-san confessed, didn't he? And you two were probably…Awww! Well, I didn't mean to make you feel awkward or anything."

She spoke faster than Renji could process in his mind. The insinuation hadn't registered until she was already too far gone believing she was right.

"I totally support you. I'm so proud of Ni-san! I thought he was all secretive about loving you and stuff like that, but…I guess he loves you enough not to care!" She burst out into unbroken laughter that rung almost sadistically in the air around them.

Renji couldn't muster the strength to finish tying his pony tail properly. It drooped limply halfway to completion. "Rukia, I just broke in here. I have no idea what you're-"

"Don't be shy!" She snatched his neck between both her arms affectionately, voice arched with enthusiasm. "I think you'll make an even better team than you did when this was private!"

"I…believe I'll have to overcome the shock first."

"You're so cute," Rukia reckoned, flicking a finger against his nose as she withdrew from the hug happily. "Where is the other half, anyway?"

"Your brother…ran off with Hitsugaya."

"Oh, the lying, good for nothing, cheat! He didn't!"

Renji took pause, drowning in Rukia's sea of errors. He opened his mouth again to protest, trying not to prove her wrong outright. "They kind of just went to look for-"

"Come on!" She seemed to think she, who had not been present for the event, knew better than he did on the matter. So she led the way with both hands wrapped around his arm."I'll correct this!"

"Please don't…"

{*XOXOX*}

"Hey, Ichigo," Grimmjow said, dropping down at his window. He was on the verge of a torrent of conversation when he finally noticed the lights were low and Ichigo was already sleeping. "Ichigo?" He whispered out of habit. Despite the obvious telltale signs, Grimmjow felt the need to affirm the situation. "Are you sleeping?"

The shift in the mattress below indicated a sleeping Ichigo. He always shifted around in his sleep when Grimmjow made noises that were on the brink of interrupting it. Grimmjow bit his tongue between his teeth at how cute it was. He slipped from the window with a dull thud, careful to land his weight politely. He turned to Ichigo's figure and brushed his own blue hair aside to see him better. At least he still slept the same way, with his eyebrows angling slightly as though he were concentrating. He was probably rescuing someone in his sleep right now.

Grimmjow sunk into the mattress slightly as he sat down beside him. He listened to Ichigo breathe until the rhythm changed. When he looked back, Ichigo's blurry gaze was seeking him out through the darkness."Grimmjow?"

"You remembered," Grimmjow said in quiet teasing, before thinking it a dumb joke and redirecting. "Um…how did you sleep and that?"

"Badly, actually," Ichigo pulled himself upright; too tired to be bothered that he had no shirt on. "What you said is still getting to me. I can't push the thought out."

"Don't. You dare," Grimmjow emphasized, realizing quickly that Ichigo could be remembering their history."Don't you dare push that thought out."

Ichigo smiled involuntarily, lifting his arm up to wipe the haze from his eyes."Um, okay."

"That's a very important thought, Ichigo." Grimmjow glanced from Ichigo's chest to his face again, just before Ichigo dropped his arm and looked back."Aren't you cold?"

"No, I never get 's weird."

"Since you died?"Grimmjow asked in blatant horror, sensing a foreboding ghostly aspect to the thought.

"No, since always, actually. It's weird- I remember some things from when I was alive. Like the fact that I never got cold."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't. Really."

"Then…why did you always…" Grimmjow revisited the memories of their time together. Wherever they went, Ichigo was always cold. And always forgetting to bring a jacket. Grimmjow always wound up sharing his body heat like some kind of personal thermal pack…a realization struck Grimmjow. "You liar!"

"I'm what now?"

"Oh, that is good. Seriously." A smile brightened Grimmjow's face, visible even in the darkness."You were a good liar, maybe I just wanted to believe you…."

"Grimmjow?"

"Hm?" Grimmjow's smile drew in closer to Ichigo."What is it? Another confession?"

"I've been…remembering something else about you."

"What? What, what, what?"

Ichigo opened his mouth for a moment, before drawing it shut again."Hm."

"What is it? Was it that time I brought you food when you weren't hungry?"

"Uh, no."

"Ya sure? That was so sweet of me. I was sure you'd remember it. Okay, how about that time we ran right behind Hitsuga-um…whatever his name is,and crashed straight into Byaku-um, that other guy?"

Ichigo frowned on the names first and the sentence second. "Really?Why would I remember something so random?"

"'Cos it was so funny," Grimmjow offered nonchalantly, shrugging. "Oh well. Guess you had to be there. -Okay, fine.- Did you remember when we made out in your bedroom?"

"Uh, no," Ichigo wasn't allowed time to debate the issue.

"Or when we made out on the battlefield and they were all like…'Is that Ichigo?'"

"No…Wait, what?"

"Or that time when…we made out in front of your dad?"

"We what?"

"Well, okay…that one didn't happen," Grimmjow admitted with a grin. "It was just a defiant thought of mine."

"Well, thanks for nothing anyway. Now I can't push that stupid picture out of my head."

"These are important thoughts. No pushing them out."Grimmjow leant towards Ichigo, keeping them close enough to kiss while he spoke to him."What did you remember, hmm?"

"I…thought I remembered you telling me that I shouldn't try to fight for you. Fight what for you?"

Grimmjow's enthusiasm ebbed away until all the light had bled from his eyes. He tried not to alarm Ichigo."Um, it doesn't really matter. They stopped chasing me. Long story…"

"You used to call me your sword or something."

"Why are you remembering that?"

Ichigo shook his head unsurely."Because…whatever you're hiding from now…it's not my friends is it? It's still them."

"Well, sorta. Not really," Grimmjow began to mutter incoherently. "I mean, they think I'm dead, so…."

Ichigo took hold of him at the hair on either side of his head."Grimmjow, look at me. Are you in danger?"

"Only when you're around."

"Grimmjow. Tell me." Ichigo's eyes demanded a fair answer. He waited for one. "Who's after you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!"

Grimmjow tore from his hold, suddenly adamant."I don't have to be your scrapbook of memories, Ichigo."

"Why won't you just tell me?"

"Because I already let you die once."

{*XOXOX*}

I'm sorry it's so incredibly late and stuff!

You see, life happened to me on a few accounts. First-

-Prelim exams! Tons of them!

Second: Got Sims 3 Supernatural. I spend more time living Sim life than I do real life…

Third: I procrastinate. No seriously, I love my writing, like a neglected animal…

But last prelim soon, so yay! More time, faster updates :D (we hope…)

Hope this one makes up for the delay!~

P.S. I have a BETA reader now. A huge thank you goes out to DancingElf for helping me tweak this chapter!~

P.P.S I had to re-upload this! The original's format was all messed up and incoherent and missing sentences and joining words…sorry to anyone who managed to get through that. Hopefully this version works. ^^


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Noise

{*XOXOX*}

YEARS AGO…

Ichigo, 17. Alive.

"_Ichigo," Hitsugaya said, happy to see him. The pleasantry fell from his voice at first sight of what walked in beside his friend. Hitsugaya froze."The hell is that doing with you?"_

_Grimmjow struck the Shinigami with his eyes. The two of them glowered until Ichigo sucked up the courage to stand between them. _

"_Hitsugaya, this is Grimmjow. He's Arrancar number six. Come to help us…"_

"_Woah," Hitsugaya cut in, diverting his hateful attention from Grimmjow to his rescuer. "You mean to tell me you fell for something like that?"_

"_Something like what?" Renji's arrival made Ichigo gush a sigh. "Ichigo, look out!"_

_His reaction drove Ichigo to yelling point. "How dumb do you think I am, you guys? I let him follow me!" _

"_Well then I think you're pretty dumb," Hitsugaya awarded him with this verdict, casting looks between the substitute Shinigami and his Arrancar friend. "Do you have any idea what is happening in Hueco Mundo right now?"_

"_No," Ichigo countered hotly, gesturing to Grimmjow, "But I'll bet he does." _

"_He's an Arrancar, Ichigo!" Renji said as though it were the end of the world, mustering speech at last. "He kills our kind! And he's good at it."_

_Hitsugaya brought the sleek steel of his blade into the light on those words. The same fear seemed to encroach on his eyes. "I'm with Renji. The Arrancar dies."_

"_Renji didn't even say that," Ichigo argued, frowning helplessly. Wishing he'd taken a different way in. "Come on. He's pretty much smashed to pieces right now. Who's he gonna hurt?"_

"_Boys, don't fight over me," Grimmjow slipped in inappropriately. Ichigo shot him a quick glance and suddenly thought to pull him into the conversation._

"_Grimmjow, you're on our side, right? Tell them why you left Hueco Mundo. Tell them why you came to Soul Society." Ichigo hadn't even heard that much himself yet. Grimmjow had been too busy choking on his own blood to manage the words earlier._

"_Yeah, do tell," Hitsugaya added snobbishly._

_Ichigo stared imploringly across at the Arrancar, whose arrogant eyes stood out even when racked with pain._

"_I came to use you as a shield."_

"_You what?" Ichigo hissed in rapid regret for asking._

"_And I wanted that all the way up until," as Grimmjow's eyes crossed to Ichigo's he continued, "I met you."_

{*XOXOX*}

PRESENT DAY…

"Wait," Byakuya stuck a hand out to block Hitsugaya's careless trotting.  
"Why're we stopping?" Hitsugaya wanted to know faithlessly, throwing eyes around the place. "It's just a normal town. This is a normal street. Do you see Ichigo or something?"

"I believe I do," Byakuya surprised him by saying. He thrust an elegant hand up towards the distance. "Hard to miss him."

"Yeah, orange haired freak." Hitsugaya's eyes caught up with the sight of Ichigo. He looked so indulged in pleasant thought as he navigated the town's streets alone. "So what're we gonna say to him?"

"I have no idea. I was just going to intimidate him with my superiority."

Hitsugaya blinked twice to dispel his surprise. "Just how superior do you think you are?"

"You go speak with him then."

"Alright, fine. Be back in a minute." Hitsugaya had taken a short step in Ichigo's direction when Ichigo suddenly stopped dead and tossed his head back. Hitsugaya watched Ichigo's lips form around an unnerving word.

From his distance, he couldn't hear amid the hum of the town, but he wasn't let down on his estimate. From out of nowhere, the blue haired Arrancar came shredding up to join Ichigo like a dog on a leash.

Hitsugaya's mouth fell open, and he flicked a look back at Byakuya.

"Oh wow. Surprising." Byakuya offered under Hitsugaya's pressurizing stare. "Guess love is better at following up than we thought."

{*XOXOX*}

"Please keep up with me," Ichigo requested with a slight smile.

"You would hate to lose me," Grimmjow filled in the rest of it for him with a proud smirk. "I know. Hey, um, Ichigo. Do you want to buy me something I just thought I might want..?"

"Food?"

"Aw, you do listen!" Grimmjow slung an arm around his shoulder in the spur of the moment. "Do something else for me."

Ichigo looked into his face dubiously as Grimmjow's eyes carried left and then right again before returning to his. "Like?"

"Like tell your friends they got no business messing in your business." Grimmjow deliberately leant in closer to Ichigo as Hitsugaya pulled into view from around the corner.

"Ichigo!" Hitsugaya called out, and suddenly the gathering of Shinigamis and Arrancar was drawing the attention of surrounding soul citizens. "How many times do I need to-?"

"Shut up, snowflake!" Grimmjow shot at him rapidly. Last thing he wanted was Hitsugaya's version of the truth flung at his forgetful partner. "How about you try fight me now that I'm not outnumbered, huh? Or don't you wanna die?"

"How about you tell him why he died."

Grimmjow bit his mouth closed.

Ichigo felt really weird about being held by Grimmjow so firmly in a crowd full of curious eyes. "Guys, what's happening?"

"I did try to warn you," Byakuya admitted, materializing from seemingly thin air. Hitsugaya noted him with a grateful nod as he spoke. "But there are some forms of love less acceptable than others."

"It's like you forgot everything he did to you, Ichigo!" Hitsugaya inserted blindly, resulting in Byakuya's signature sigh. "What?"

"He has forgotten everything. That's what death is." Byakuya enlightened him.

Hitsugaya turned a cruel smile on Grimmjow. "Oh really? So what…you just thought we wouldn't tell him or something?"

"Tell me what?" Ichigo raised the question, checking up at Grimmjow for some reason. It was Grimmjow's answer he was seeking.

"He betrayed you, Ichigo. Like we said he would. He made sure you died after he got what he wanted."

"Yeah, way to twist a story," Grimmjow fired back, tightening his hold on Ichigo absently. "I don't mean to put it out there, but you're the ones who let his family die."

"We didn't _let them_ die! They died out of our control!"

"My family?" The statement was an instant memory trigger. A violent wave of suppressed thoughts rode through his brain and he staggered.

Grimmjow moved his attention to Ichigo, who was leaning his full weight on him now. "Ichigo? Hey, Ichigo, you with me?"

"Nice going, Arrancar."

Grimmjow found it easy to ignore him completely while Ichigo's eyes lost their shine. "Ichigo?"

{*XOXOX*}

YEARS AGO…

Ichigo, 17. Alive.

"_What's he doing here?" Byakuya asked nonchalantly, seated at his desk as Ichigo stepped in with Grimmjow._

_Renji dashed up behind them. "Well, you see, Captain. The thing with Ichigo is he doesn't listen, and…"_

"_He's hurt. And he's helping us. Can I keep him here?" Ichigo interrupted._

"_In my house?"_

"_Please. No one else can know about him."_

"_So you decided to involve me in your conspiracy…why exactly?"_

"_It's not a conspiracy," Ichigo stressed the words in a higher pitch._

_Renji gushed air as Hitsugaya knocked him aside from behind. "Move, tall person. Captain Kuchiki, the enemy's been brought in here. He says Aizen's going to launch war soon."_

"_Predictably."_

"_And now he actually wants to join sides with us."_

_Byakuya nodded, feigning interest. "Ah, I see."_

"_That's it?"_

_Byakuya's inner lazy will prompted him to nod. "Well, I don't have any issues with it as long as it doesn't turn into my problem."_

"_It won't," Ichigo inserted quickly._

"_Problem settled then." Byakuya shrugged, gesturing to the upper floor of his mansion. "There's a room up there. You may have it temporarily. Only… I don't want to hear any noise from the thing, if that's not too much trouble."_

"_Can you be quiet?" Ichigo felt the need to confer with Grimmjow._

_The Arrancar nodded. "I won't let you down. Show me the place."_

_Ichigo departed with Grimmjow at his side, still weak from the injury Ichigo's makeshift bandage wasn't completely holding together for him._

"_This is insane," Hitsugaya said as his friend and his enemy brushed past him on their way out the door. "Someone's going to die. This is stupid."_

_Byakuya shrugged again, folding his hands beneath his chin. "I like to think of the heightened odds we'll have if we stay in possession of one of Aizen's closest."_

"_I like to think of it is as letting one of Aizen's closest in here," Hitsugaya countered. "And all the heightened odds he'll have when that Arrancar skips back home to him with our intelligence." _

_Renji lingered at the doorway, throwing a look after Ichigo and Grimmjow as they made their way upstairs._

"_So why do you trust me so much?" Grimmjow asked as they fell from view._

_The question struck a chord in Ichigo, since he really hadn't thought about it. He'd become so preoccupied with fighting for Grimmjow to stay with them that he hadn't figured out a reason why he wanted Grimmjow to stay with them in the first place. "I really don't know. You just don't seem like the lying type, I guess."_

"_Do you really believe that?"_

"_I…" Ichigo doubted himself again. He trained his eyes ahead of them as he led the way down the upstairs hall. "Well, I like to think I can trust everybody actually."_

"_So you'd trust anybody?"_

"_Well, no, not, anybody…"_

"_So just me?" Grimmjow's smirk flashed white in the gloom of the unlit passageway. Ichigo stared at him with sudden interest._

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_Oh hey, nothing. I just…liked the thought, that's all."_

"_What, the thought of just you?"_

"_Is this the room?"_

_Ichigo stopped walking a little way ahead of Grimmjow. He looked back and realized he'd passed it. "Huh. Yeah, it is."_

"_You sure you can trust me enough to leave me alone in here?" Grimmjow asked, leaning arrogantly on the doorframe. _

_Ichigo narrowed his eyes slightly. "I hope so."_

"_Hope? Really? That's a tiny little precautionary measure…"_

"_You know, there's no such thing as gratitude in this world." Grimmjow's face tensed suddenly, worrying Ichigo. "What?"_

"_No, it's just…" Grimmjow put a hand to his wounded side involuntarily, "your bandage is really useless."_

"_Oh, sorry. Let me get you something-"_

"_Yeah, you do that," Grimmjow said half-dazedly, sliding to the ground in one fluid motion with a groan of pain. "Ow…"_

"_Is that noise I hear?" Byakuya asked as the dull thud of Grimmjow's collapse resounded above his head. Ichigo had just passed his office in a hurry as he spoke the words._

"_No Sir!' Ichigo flung back, racing to locate a medical aid pack. Renji was conveniently bringing one down the path at that very minute._

"_Hey, Ichigo. I thought you might need-"_

"_Thank you!" Ichigo was there and gone._

_Renji had never seen him so animated before. "Does this mean you're staying in Soul Society now?" _

_Ichigo was too far away to hear him, having raced upstairs again to where Grimmjow was pounding the floor with one hand out of sheer agony._

"_Dunno what happened. Think I tore it laughing."_

"_Just hold still."_

"_Noise." Byakuya's voice floated up haughtily from where he sat downstairs. Ichigo glared at Grimmjow's pounding fist until it fell still._

"_Sorry."_

"_It's okay. Just stop moving."_

"_Ow. Oh wow, that hurts. Ow."_

"_Just…shhh."_

"_You are a terrible healer," Grimmjow emphasized, squinting his eyes in pain as Ichigo worked in a hurry. _

"_Well, you're terrible at keeping quiet. Shh!" _

"_Ow. Talk to me. Distract me or summin…God that hurts!"_

_Although he could see the visible craze of pain in Grimmjow's eyes from the ruptured wound, Ichigo demanded helplessly, "Drop your voice." So Grimmjow took up banging his hand on the ground again. There was no quieting him. "Grimmjow!" Ichigo whispered, stopping his patch up job to stare at him. He had a piece of bloodied bandage filling both hands as he did so. Byakuya's sigh was distinguishable even from a floor below. "He's gonna make us leave, Grimmjow."_

"_Hurts like hell though. I don't understand why, I was fine, then I noticed it and it was like…wow! Ow, stop touching it."_

"_Sorry. Look, just…"_

"_God, it's on fire. Like…"_

"_Shush!" Ichigo felt compelled to quiet him, and with crimson-dripping bandages occupying both hands, saw no other way to do it. Ichigo pushed his mouth forwards and connected it to Grimmjow's._

_Down below, Byakuya inhaled a calm breath of air as all the hammering of fists and gushing of words lapsed into instant silence._

_When Ichigo drew back, Grimmjow's eyes were wide with wonder. "What was that?" he whispered bewilderedly._

"_To shut you up." Ichigo assured him, still reeling from why he'd done it. He gazed back at Grimmjow's suddenly motionless position. "Now just…be quiet while I finish this." He made to bind his wound again._

_Grimmjow flinched, but his mind was elsewhere. He looked back at Ichigo when he was finished with him and stumbled onto the words he wanted to say at last._

"_Did you know you're my first kiss?"_

"_It…wasn't really a kiss. Sort of…"_

"_Oh," Grimmjow said disappointedly, dropping his eyes to the floor and then flipping his head up to meet Ichigo's eyes. "Then what was it?"_

"_Just…a desperate last resort…"_

"_So that I could stay here?"_

"_Yeah."_

_Grimmjow smiled, shaking his head. "So, nothing else, huh?"_

"_Nothing." Even to Ichigo, the words just rung as false. _

_Grimmjow didn't voice his next thought though; he just presented an unconvinced smile to Ichigo._

'We'll see.'

{*XOXOX*}

**Author's Note**

_So here's the next(late) chapter! ^^_

_I have a request…__Please leave reviews if you're following this__! They seriously motivate me. And we all know, I need motivation…^^_

_Lol. Please. Seriously. I would love to hear what you liked about the chapter(and what you didn't like!) so please share your thoughts._

_Oh, and on a side note…Yes, I do realize Hitsugaya and pretty much everyone else in this story are incredibly OOC. That's deliberate; not much I can do about it considering I chose to do this in a very 'stylized manner', if you want to call it that. ^^ I actually can't take myself too seriously when I write this considering I've just turned Ichigo and Grimmjow homo…lol. But anything else you want to mention, please do!~_

_Again, thank you to DancingElf for the BETA reading!_

_**And P.S.**__ I apologize if the chapters come out with years in between them, but they need to pass through the lives of me and my BETA reader, both of which are pretty busy! To be fair she's much quicker than I am. ^^_

_But thanks for sticking with me!_

_MadeOf Sunshine~_

_**P.P.S.**__ When FF starts changing formatting and leaving out whole sentences and joining words, I want to shoot myself. Please give me a chance to edit this after it goes up when things become illegible ._

_And forgive me for what cannot be saved: this site has a mind of its own!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Before You Forget About Me_

_Chapter 5: Fallen Sword_

{*XOXOX*}

"I don't care, Grimmjow!" Ichigo yelled furiously, fending him off with both hands. "I'm tired of waiting for you to decide what happened. I'm asking them."

"But…you can't," Grimmjow tried explaining, desperately afraid over his medic patient's unexplainable burst of energy after awakening. "What were you dreaming about to be up and at it so quickly anyway? I had to carry you out of the market place a few hours ago."

"This history of mine," Ichigo said distractedly, eyes imploring. He couldn't contain his frustration any longer, mind pounding over and above the headache he'd received blacking out in the town."Grimmjow, was I in love with you? Was I fighting for you? What happened to us? Did I die for you?"

"You…" Grimmjow took pause reflect on the barrage of questions, as his mind suddenly turned impermeable-as though nothing was getting through to him anymore. "I…I'd tell you what happened, but I need you to remember part of it first, or it's my word against your friends' words and I..."

"Grimmjow, just tell me!"

"I don't wanna alter your memories in any way."

Ichigo took the information as a small step forwards, as his eyes still thinned uncertainly. "What do you mean alter the memory? Won't I just remember it if you tell me?"

"It isn't my version of the truth I want you to remember," Grimmjow said simply. "It's yours."

Ichigo's anger flickered like a flame on the verge of being extinguished, faltering as he tried to understand that concept. Frankly, remembering anything would feel better than having the blank spaces of his memories. "Grimmjow, what if I trust you?"

"There!" Grimmjow said, backing away from Ichigo unexplainably. "Again with the trust! Why do you trust people so much? If I tell you you loved me and died for me, you'd say you trust me. And if your snowflake friend told you that you hated me and died because of me, you'd probably believe him too."

"Well I don't believe either of you would lie to me about it, but I-"

"Just stop trusting everybody." Grimmjow broke in, sounding adamant. More so than Ichigo had ever heard him sound before. With his gaze stern and smoldering, Grimmjow dropped both hands down firmly on Ichigo's shoulders. "You trust no one but yourself till this is settled, alright?"

"Grimmjow, I-"

"Alright?"

Ichigo considered him carefully, thoughts spilling over into nonsensical words on his tongue. "That's stupid, Grimmjow. How do I know what's truth and what's wrong? I wasn't there."

"Yes you were!" Grimmjow corrected him quickly, gripping him tighter as a sudden burst excitement took hold of him. "You were there, Ichigo! Just think back to it. I'll drop hints…Look. They were supposed to be attacking Soul Society back then, remember?"

"Who was attacking..?"

"Aizen," Grimmjow filled him in rapidly, eager to confirm things from both his story and that of Ichigo's Shinigami friends that would coincide. "Aizen and his other Arrancar."

"They…" Ichigo felt the sickening weight of his memories surging through his head space again; something death had done its utmost to shelter him from being unnaturally returned.

Grimmjow acknowledged the drunken look in his eyes and hesitated for less than a second before pushing forward. "I was on your side back then. You were staying with me in that Bya—that guy's house. And Aizen was going to attack Soul Society…um… or so you believed…"

"Or so I-" Ichigo felt the shock of that lie jolt his mind again, as it had all those years ago when he had discovered the information to be false back then as well. Aizen was never going to attack Soul Society. That had been a ruse Grimmow had created for them. A lie Grimmjow had told-that's right-Grimmjow had… "I…believed you…" Ichigo said as he muddled through the unpleasant memories assaulting his brain.

Grimmjow hurried to remind him of one other thing that may not have been present in the Shinigami's version of the story. "Yeah, but then I suddenly came clean and told you the truth, remember?" Grimmjow felt the same level of shame admitting it the second time around as he had felt the first time. "I told you why I'd really come to Soul Society…"

{*XOXOX*}

YEARS AGO…

"I betrayed them," Grimmjow told Ichigo with his eyes averted. "And they're after me."

"Just you?" Ichigo asked in surprise, having believed the apparent tale of Aizen's imminent attack on Soul Society to be true. "I thought you said they were after-"

"Well, they're not. Just me. I came here to 'warn you' of something that was never gonna happen," Grimmjow gushed, hating the harsh sound of those words in the air. He laughed without any trace of humor. "Haha. You were all gonna lift your swords up and throw them in Aizen's face when he got here, launching an entire counter strike in my favor. You were gonna be misled into protecting me—yeah Ichigo, just me. Not your Society. And then during the war, I'd get away. No hard feelings. Aizen would destroy you, Ichigo. Do you understand why?"

Ichigo still had his sword in his hands, his grip having loosened in the unimaginable last few minutes of conversation. They'd been fooling around like any other day. Sword training. "No…"

"Because without this," Grimmjow said as he swatted Ichigo's sword aside, words mixing in with the clatter of the fallen steel, "you'd just be human, Ichigo. Aizen's not…human anymore." Grimmjow's mind caught on dark thoughts as he mentioned the idea. "He'd kill you."

Ichigo watched Grimmjow recover from the outburst quietly, thoughts stirring around the picture Grimmjow had painted for him. He angled his nose down at the collapsed sword solemnly, catching his own stoic expression within its shine. "You only came here to trick us into helping you?"

Grimmjow had been prepared for the cost of freeing himself from the burden of lying to Ichigo. He'd realized that Ichigo might turn on him with this news in mind. He knew that the same smile that had brought him to tell the truth was exactly what he'd be losing if Ichigo did turn away from him. "Yeah," he said bitterly, with all his self-directed frustrations exhausted before his mouth had opened. "Guess I did. Bet you rue the day you trusted a monster, am I right? Bet you wish you'd let me die in my blood back there…"

"If that's all you wanted," Ichigo interrupted him slowly, his mind still not at ease with his understanding. "Then why did you tell me this?"

Something shifted between them. There was a moment they inhabited- just the two of them-where they were Grimmjow and Ichigo, not Arrancar and Shinigami .It was back to the way it had been before the tension of the truth and the lies, before the dissension that had unfolded. Before their division. It was impossible to ignore the bond they'd created.

"Because, thanks to you, Shinigami," Grimmjow barked, unsure just how enraged he was at the realization, "I can't go on just living alone like nothing ever happened to me. I'm always gonna wonder where you are, and how you're doing. So you stood in the way of my plan, and ruined everything. You made me happy."

Ichigo stared wordlessly back at the confession.

It seemed to come as a surprise to even Grimmjow as he poured more words out, "And I thought about the plan to save myself…until it wasn't the most important thing anymore. I told you the truth because my plan has changed, Ichigo." Grimmjow struck him with a severe look. "So pick up your sword."

{*XOXOX*}

They'd trained for days. Over and over. The same patterns. Alternating once they'd mastered one.

All the maneuvers began to grow dull to Grimmjow. The grayness of inadequacy was permeating each fighting style. It gradually dawned on him that while Ichigo's battle prowess exceeded his own, there were still the odd moments where Ichigo fell back laughing, distracted by something stupid Grimmjow had done. Or when Ichigo stopped to check if Grimmjow was going to dodge his next attack in time, unaware that Grimmjow had been purposefully lagging to test him for that exact reaction. It was a weakness then. The same kindness that had compelled him to pity a monster once might cause him to pity another out on the battlefield. And that one wouldn't learn to love him in time.

"Okay, stop," Ichigo said abruptly, thrusting his weight back into a lurching halt. "You've been sucking at this for hours. Are we fighting or not, Grimmjow?"

Still unhappily distracted, Grimmjow staggered to a standstill and lowered his sword to his waist despondently. "Not."

"Well then I have a question for you," Ichigo said, motivated by his own pent up irritation at Grimmjow's aberrant behavior. "You said that Aizen was after you. But you haven't said why. And you haven't said what he wants with you."

"I betrayed Aizen, alright? What more do you need to know? You don't betray someone who thinks they're God and walk away alive."

"So it's a matter of pride?"

"I am so far over the edge with this. Can we just drop it already?"

"Fine. But it's not getting us anywhere."

"Where do you wanna go, Ichigo?" Grimmjow couldn't believe he was yelling at him. He'd never done that before. In fact, he was guessing it would be the first time Ichigo ever really saw him for who he had been prior to Ichigo's arrival on the battlefield that day. "I have been everywhere with you. I've befriended you, I've loved you. I've broken down the only wall that stood between me and death, just to get across to you. We were gonna fight together, but right now, it just looks like we're gonna die together. We've been _everywhere_, Ichigo! Everywhere! Don't you get it? There is nowhere left to go for us!"

"Hey, what's all the yelling?" Hitsugaya had appeared, an unwelcomed sight at the door, catching the temper in Grimmjow's hollow eyes before he'd caught it back again. It was visibly difficult for the Arrancar. He'd never known to show restraint before, and Toushiro wasn't the right person to witness his shortcomings. "Ichigo, is he keeping his place?"

"He's fine," Ichigo shot to Hitsugaya, a little disorientated by his arrival. "Look, we were just in the middle of something."

"No we weren't," Grimmjow said absently, although he was not sure he meant that. "We're done here." He strode from the room without a backwards glance at Ichigo's surprised expression.

"Ichigo," he could hear Hitsugaya asking him afterwards, voice peaked in curiosity. "What happened?"

Grimmjow kept extending the distance between them in long strides. The distance between two Shinigami and their natural enemy.

{*XOXOX*}

It was two AM in the morning, stars pricking into the skyline, throwing faint light traces across the rooftops. Nothing was awake any more. Not even the night watch.

"Ichigo, wake up!" Hitsugaya pleaded desperately, yanking at the front of his shirt intently. "Get up, Kurosaki!"

"Wh-" Ichigo's eyes snapped open, dizzied by the flood of light filling the room. "What? Toushiro?"

"It's your Arrancar friend," Hitsugaya told him with vicious mockery, resent rolling off his tongue with every syllable as Ichigo sat upright. "He's left the Society."

The unreal image started to form more clearly in Ichigo's hazy mind, spurring a disheartened sigh from his vocal chords. "Ugh, Grimmjow."

"And not just that. He took your sword, Ichigo." The statement came out brash and brazen. Ichigo's sight flew to Hitsugaya as though he'd misheard him, but he was rewarded no further confirmation than what the bad news meant for him. "You can't Bankai, Ichigo. You can't fight in battle without that sword. That sword is a part of your soul-it's irreplaceable. And it's the most powerful weapon we've seen in a while." Histugaya's tone grew condescending. Ichigo was helpless to counter him for the moment and absorbed the ideas that seethed out of him. "Grimmjow's run and taken your sword back to Aizen, which was likely his orders all along, Ichigo. And you can do nothing to stop him without it. Works out beautifully, doesn't it?"

"Toushiro…" Ichigo didn't believe it. Because it was impossible. He just needed to find Grimmjow and reconfirm that for them. "Let me get to him. I can still fight without my-"

"No, you can't. Stay here, and for once, just admit you were wrong about someone."

"I wasn't-"

Histugaya pressed his hand to Ichigo's mouth quickly to halt him. He sighed regretfully, something soft touching his eyes for a fleeting second. "Ichigo, I'm sorry. I know…what he meant to you." There was nothing but honesty conveyed in Hitsugaya's plea, his disappointment for the events that had happened to them already spent."But he's your enemy again. That's the natural order."

"He isn't…"

"And to be honest, it's probably a good thing you learnt this lesson before you got serious with…him…" Hitsugaya caught the devastation his words were spurring in Ichigo's panicked eyes. Something like brushing past the cobwebs to see a haunting painting he really didn't want to view. "Ichigo, you alright?" He placed a solid hand up on his shoulder, supporting his weight a little. "Ichigo? Hey. You weren't…already serious about Grimmjow, were you?"

{*XOXOX*}

"Keep him here," Hitsugaya ordered Byakuya, assuming the adult position. Renji cowered away in vain around the back of the room and his Captain blanked out at the mere prospect of impending work. "Renji, follow me. We're getting that sword back."

"I don't know, Hitsuagya…" Renji began, instantly switching titles at the stare he received, "I mean, Captian. We're not exactly a whole army."

"Well if we tell other people now, they'll know we let that Arrancar in here." Hitsugaya's accusing glare shifted to Byakuya. "I mean, that was really stupid."

"My negligence has already been paid for," Byakuya waved it away, bringing his hands up underneath his chin. "In the sleepless nights those two stuck around for."

"Come on, Renji, man up!" Hitsugaya threw at the vice-Captain, his argument more ready for battle than Renji would ever be. "You're a Shinigami! What're monsters to you?"

"Don't go, Renji," Byakuya said, and the thought was instantly strange. "Stay here."

"Wow, really?" Renji asked in surprise, unaware of the future that his Captain already foresaw. "Thanks, Captain."

"But you…" Hitsugaya began disbelievingly.

"Captain's orders." Renji shrugged.

"Well I'm a Captain…"

"But you're not my Captain."

"Well, then the least you can do for me is to tell Ichigo why he doesn't have a sword, or a best friend, when I don't come back," Hitsugaya fired at them both, whisking himself out the door in great injury.

"Wow," Byakuya mentioned, mingled in with the slam, "to think he considers himself one of Ichigo's best friends is really arrogant of him."

"I know," Renji took an absent moment of pause, before suddenly spinning around and placing both hands atop his Captain's desk with a horrible sense of foreboding washing through him. "What're we gonna do, Captain? Our friend led us right to the enemy!"

"We're going to wait, Renji Abarai. Haven't I taught you anything?"

"It's just hard to believe."

"Not particularly."

"Yeah, you're right I guess. Stupid Ichigo and his…blasé love." Renji broke off as he recalled something quite suddenly, bringing his sight back into line with his Captain. "By the way, why'd you want me to stay here, Captain?"

Byakuya shrugged nonchalantly, busily perusing a seemingly important document from off his desk for a lengthy moment. He finally conjured something not as dreadfully lame as everything else he'd considered telling him."Can't have you die, Renji. Replacing you would mean more work on my part."

"Oh. Yeah..um, sure…." He sounded distant.

Byakuya's eyes crept up to Renji's. "Don't say it like you don't believe me."

"No, it's not that. It's just …" and Byakuya noticed that Renji's attention had strayed out the office window, "…isn't that…Ichigo running out the gate down there?"

"So help me, he's getting away!" Byakuya rose to his feet after a begrudging pause. "Indolent brat and his reckless Arrancar keeping."

"I thought you didn't mind him keeping the Arrancar, Captian?"

"Hear me right next time, Renji. I distinctly said I didn't mind, up until the point that it became my problem." Byakuya lead the way to the door. "Which was to say, up until right now."

{*XOXOX*}

Author's Note:

_Hey Guys!_

_I just finished my matric year! Been really busy trying to pull that one off, haha, so sorry for the hiatus. The story's back on!_

_I thought this chapter started to take things in a more serious direction. I think the story needs some seriousness for one to appreciate the final events. :P_

_Please leave a review! I'd love your feedback! :D_

_P.S. I did not italicize Ichigo's memories this time round, because there was too much of it, and I think italics are a strain on the eyes. So happy reading!~_

_MadeOfSunshine_


	6. Chapter 6

_Before You Forget About Me_

_Chapter 6: Illusions_

{*XOXOX*}

(STILL) YEARS AGO…

In a moment of faltering, Grimmjow lowered his sword to his side. The circumstances had spiraled out of his grasp. This battle was nothing he could reckon with, as the pressing eyes of his opponents glared stoically at him from around the dimly lit chamber they'd lured him into. Like a rat. How had he ever even dreamed he would be reaching Aizen alive, when in front of Aizen loomed the impenetrable wall of his Arrancar guard?

"You were a fool, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra spoke up smoothly, jade eyes glinting with speculation.

Grimmjow was running short on breath, his heart rate erratic. He'd anticipated the hollow ache that sung through all of his exerted muscles just then, but he had not counted for the crushing weight of recognized failure that was depressing on him also. He projected an arrogant tone straight through the heart of his uncertainties. "For leaving this club?"

"No," Ulquiorra retorted, "for coming back to it."

Ulquiorra gestured suddenly and the Arrancar surged towards Grimmjow.

Grimmjow almost needed another moment to fathom retaliating. There were so many compared to him. He'd come back so recklessly fragile. It was hopeless to second guess his decisions now though. Their angry figures were already arriving at the keen rate of vengeance itself.

Grimmjow paused to take a breath. He steadied his growing nervousness in the time frame, before abruptly realigning his thoughts to where his focus should be directed.

It all came flooding back to him when he gripped his hold more tautly around the hilt of Ichigo's Zanpaktou. The one he had stolen from him. The one he had told himself he'd taken to ensure that Ichigo would have no fighting potential or means that might lure him onto the battlefield. An unarmed soldier maintained a wide berth from the fields of war.

But there was another reason Grimmjow had taken Ichigo's sword. A selfish reason that struck a chord deep in his chest. 'Ichigo,' Grimmjow thought to himself uneasily, trying to mentally piece together the reasons for his actions. 'Is it stupid that I thought I'd take your sword because I wanted to have you fighting this battle beside me?'

{*XOXOX*}

"But Ichigo…" Renji whined desperately, barring his way quickly with the sheathed length of his sword. "You're not allowed to leave Soul Society."

"Get out of my way, Renji," Ichigo demanded, eyes slating in his panic. Grimmjow was loose out there. His Zanpaktou had been stolen. He needed to reach the single place where all of his rapidly forming questions would be answered. "I have to get out there. If you don't step aside, I'm going to make you."

Renji's eyes widened curiously. "With what weapon?"

"With my bare hands," Ichigo fired back. He suddenly remembered there was a second gateway a short running distance away. He was just about to toss his gaze in its direction when Byakuya suddenly materialized behind him.

Ichigo blinked twice. "Byakuya?"

"Ichigo," Byakuya returned the greeting cordially, a cold hiss etched into the shadow of his words. "Now, what could be so important that you would break your verbal contract with me?"

"Break my what?"

"You agreed not to turn this into a matter that concerns me. And now suddenly, here you are escaping at my gate, violating my orders to detain you. Doesn't quite seem within the terms, does it?"

The thought of dishonesty swerved Ichigo's intentions a hundred times more severely than Renji's incessant whining had done. He looked off to the side where the second gate was positioned, longing to race through it.

"Byakuya," he summoned at last, returning focus to the Captain. "I know you don't trust him, but I think that Grimmjow's gone and tried to take on the Arrancar all alone."

"What would compel him to do something so valiant for Soul Society?" Byakuya wanted to know. "We've only been his natural enemies for centuries. Above that, I believe you haven't fully comprehended the magnitude of an Arrancar's selfish nature. They are driven by egotistic need and desire. What makes you think he's out there breaking that innate disposition for the senseless sake of protecting his rivals?"

Ichigo staggered at this overwhelming speculation, trying to pinpoint exactly what drove him to trust Grimmjow, regardless of the entangling web of his obvious betrayal. "Grimmjow told me the truth about what brought him to Soul Society."

"Ha. So he admits to being a liar in the first place," Byakuya returned smartly, "You can't exactly trust a liar's truths, Ichigo."

"He had no reason to change a lie."

"You've been training with him for all this time based on that new lie, haven't you?" Byakuya asked. "Well, did you ever stop to consider that what you were demonstrating was your entire lifetime's worth of strategy?"

The suggestions punctured Ichigo's nerve a little, but he managed to keep the uneasy feelings at bay. "We were going to fight together , is all."

"What if he turned out to be your enemy in the end, regardless of how your fighting began?"

Ichigo's stomach clenched as the image flashed before him. He swerved the conversation."I still need to get my sword back from him. I have to go now."

"How will you fight him for it?"

"I won't have to," Ichigo snapped impatiently. "Grimmjow's was my…" and at the last minute he improvised, "…friend."

Renji snorted as though he didn't doubt it. "That was hard to miss."

"And I kind of need to ask him if we're still…friends." Ichigo felt nauseated. Friends? If they were still friends? If they were still going to meet places in the dark and mock each other harmlessly and slip in a compliment or two when they thought the other wasn't going to notice? Were they still going to laugh to fill the awkward silences after kissing? Were they still going to do that thing where they finished the other's sentences and then everybody rolled their eyes?

Ichigo hadn't realized the encroaching disappointment was displaying on his face.

The dark disapproval in Byakuya's gaze was lifting slightly, like a clearing fog. He cleared his throat a little, musing over his own ideal world. He admired someone's ability to try under impossible circumstances. He flicked gaze over at Renji. If he'd had a shred of that courage, maybe he'd have already told the vice Captain how he felt about him…

"I'm going to get it back," Ichigo decided.

Renji watched him bolt for the second gate without warning. "Well, I guess his Zanpaktou is pretty important to him."

"I somehow think he means the Grimmjow-and-he-relationship," Byakuya offered.

"Captain, do you think there's any…I dunno…gayness about that Grimmjow-and-he-relationship?"

"Obviously, Renji," Byakuya confirmed, catching Ichigo's eyes without indicating any objection. Ichigo sent a grateful smile before he rushed through the gate way. "It's kind of the reason I'm on his side."

Renji missed that last part, trudging after his Captain as they returned to his office. "I think he took a random sword from off your rack inside, Captain. Is it gonna help him?"

"Not much," Byakuya confessed. "But I suppose he has surprised me before."

{*XOXOX*}

Grimmjow kept his eyes high, hating the condescending tone Ulquiorra used with him. It made a weak show of dignity while he was still covered in his own blood from the recently called off assault.

"You're still trying too hard, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra told him steadily. "You always lose when you get like this. What is it you're fighting for? Why come back here when you finally got free?"

"Because Aizen's still alive," Grimmjow informed him. His hand was dyed crimson as it gripped Ichigo's blade for assurance. "No one's free till that's settled."

No disagreement entered Ulquiorra's eyes. He dodged the statement. "Grimmjow, I hate to see you suffer."

"You're too kind."

"So I'm going to end this quickly."

"Good luck with that."

"But first, I want to reveal something to you."

"Already seen your best moves."

Ulquiorra dismissed him tolerantly. "Grimmjow, the reason you returned to Hueco Mundo was to stop Aizen from coming after you. You knew he would. You knew he'd get even for what you did to him."

What he'd done to him? Grimmjow had known exactly what he was in for when he'd turned on Aizen and failed to kill him that day. He'd come close to destroying him, but he'd missed out on the perfect opportunity.

"And?"

"And you were wrong, you know." There was something chilling about the manner in which Ulquiorra conducted himself. "Aizen has been watching you. He's seen you. He's been informed of your whereabouts and who you were with. Grimmjow, Aizen's not the type to seek meaningless murder. He prefers his vengeance to be more severe than that. Maybe more elaborate. He wants to damage you on a whole new level."

"So he wants to kill me, right?" Grimmjow inserted, picturing the most grotesque forms of death imaginable. His mouth opened around a fluttering of hollow laughter. "You think death scares me?"

"No," Ulquiorra corrected him, staring pointblank. "Didn't you hear me? He's seen everything you've been doing since you left this place. He wants to kill Ichigo."

When the pieces fell together, Grimmjow's stomach lurched with abrupt understanding. What he had just done finally registered. "Ichigo?"

He was going after Ichigo. He was going to find him unarmed, uninformed, and make an easy kill out of him. And Ichigo was going to die thinking it was true, Grimmjow had planned for his imminent defeat by stealing his sword away.

Ulquiorra's expression was merciless. "Do you believe me, Grimmjow?"

"Ulquiorra, fight with me," Grimmjow's pride had dissolved. Desperate urgency filled in its place.

"Are you joking?" Ulquiorra inquired.

"I'm not. Fight with me. It's not impossible to kill Aizen, I came close to it. You hate this place. You can turn on it."

"And end up like you?" Ulquiorra's voice implied he was faithless. However his eyes danced with avid interest, as though some small buried part of him believed the chance to be free of Aizen actually existed.

Grimmjow swallowed his shallow breathing. "Ulquiorra…all of you…any of you. Aizen's not undefeatable. He wants to kill me because I found it out."

"He gets stronger all the time, you fool," Nnoitra said stiffly, clearly edging to finish him. But he was still bound under Ulquiorra's order. "I don't think you've noticed what he's been able to do to those who stood against him in the past."

"It's a lot of illusions, and a bit of talent," Grimmjow said sharply. "But I'm telling you, I came close."

Fiendish smiles flashed up across the room, amused Arrancar conveying their disbelief.

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed. "When last have you seen Aizen?"

"Aizen is too busy to be involved right now," Ulquiorra filled him in with. "He'll attend only to matters where we've failed him."

"Aizen's sick," Grimmjow asserted, knowing he'd just buried himself a hundred feet underground if Aizen's stare was pressing into him from anywhere at that moment. "He's sick. That's why I went at him. He can't defend himself right now. He's trying to figure out what's wrong before he confronts any of us again. And eventually he'll find out and recover. We only have this one chance to kill Aizen. We have to take it."

An honest silence emptied the chamber of all other sounds but breathing. Ulquiorra seemed to stagger longest, beaten to recovery by Nnoitra's bluntness. "Are you saying Aizen's vulnerable to rebellion?"

"Excatly."

"Well, how convenient is that for your little recruitment game? Give up on it, Grimmjow. You're losing and you're dying. Now you're just trying to build up a little fortress between yourself and the end with any lie at your disposal."

"You honestly don't see connections?"

"They're very convenient connections. I do see your intentions though," Nnoitra said. "It's ridiculous, the bullshit you think you can feed us. We're not idiots."

"If Aizen's sick," Ulquiorra raised his voice suddenly, "then why are you only telling us this now?"

Grimmjow detected the keen interest in his voice and gladly fuelled it. "Because I had to get out of the situation alive. I fought Aizen for God's sake! I got out of his rooms and returned here. I was back among you guys. Aizen knew the situation was delicate because even if he came out afterwards to finish me, I'd still be among you guys. I'd have revealed he was sick to all of you. We'd easily outnumber him, and probably would have killed him. You'd have believed because you'd have seen his sickness for yourselves. I knew I could reveal Aizen's secret, forcing him to attack me, or just keep it to myself so that he'd back off for the moment, unwilling to push me to reveal the truth. It was like a twenty four hour window. I could have told you all and waged war. But dicks like Nnoitra made me hesitate."

Nnoitra snarled unpleasantly.

"I didn't think you'd believe me," Grimmjow admitted, "so I got out. And I let it go. It was stupid not to try, but I had no reason to think you'd help me. And given this reaction, I was right about that."

"So…he's sick then?" Ulquiorra asked flatly. "You realize that what you've told us may very well put us all in danger."

"If it's true," Nnoitra hissed.

Grimmjow shook his head at him. "Do you have any idea what kind of chance you're gonna let go of because you doubt me? Cos you freaking don't like me?"

"Wannabe King," Nnoitra replied tersely, impassive. "I hope you're ready for the end. We're not allowed to kill you until Gin and Tousen get to Ichigo though."

_Unarmed_, Grimmjow's mind flashed the word. The Zanpaktou felt hot in his hand.

"Where are they looking?" Grimmjow enquired meekly.

Ulquiorra looked away distractedly. "In Soul Society."

{*XOXOX*}

Tousen veered left and Gin took right. The unexpected guard that preceded Soul Society's gate came as a setback to them. They certainly hadn't been expecting a Captain and his Lieutenant. And by the Ice Captain's instantly frustrated reaction, they were guessing he hadn't been expecting them either.

Hitsugaya was livid at the interruption. He'd never reach Hueco Mundo and retrieve Ichigo's sword if these idiots didn't relent on their infiltration effort. He was glad he'd thought to at least bring his vice-captain, Matsumoto.

"A little outmatched, don't you think?" Gin asked with a faint smile.

"What do you want, Gin?" Matsumoto demanded fiercely. Her chest was dipping with the breathless pace of their battle.

Gin lowered his sword. "We're looking for Ichigo."

"He's not here," Hitsugaya threw out at them, quickly conjuring a lie when he considered how vulnerable Ichigo would be without his sword. "He's back on Earth."

"Well that's too bad," Gin said harshly. He flicked a look at Tousen. "That's where a small legion of our finest are stationed."

Histugaya blanched at the unnerving imagery. "On Earth?"

"That's right."

"Why do you have Hollows on Earth?"

"He's in demand, you see," Gin began idly, almost in riddle. "Aizen needs to see Ichigo urgently. So to press matters, we've got his family under hostage."

The news stunned and horrified Matsumoto, who'd trusted him once. "You what?"

"Ichigo has one hour to show himself," Tousen cut in. "After that, we kill his whole household."

"They're not involved," Matsumoto immediately brought to attention.

Hitsugaya knew that much wouldn't matter to them. He also knew that Ichigo could not be brought to face Aizen without his Zanpaktou. He reckoned he could recover it within the allotted hour.

"I'll give him the message," Histugaya lied stiffly.

Gin and Tousen exchanged furtive glances. Gin gestured back towards Hueco Mundo's direction. "You'll want him to arrive in Aizen's tower."

"Got it."

"Remember…one hour."

{*XOXOX*}

Author's Note:

Got even more serious! But I promise to lighten it up next chapter :)

Okay, so this is still happening in a sort of flashback format. We return to the present next chapter.

Hope they're worth the painful wait!

Thanks to my BETA reader again! :D

MadeOfSunshine~


	7. Chapter 7

_Before You Forget About Me_

_Chapter 7: Twenty Minutes Earlier_

{*XOXOX*}

PRESENT DAY…

Ichigo stirred blearily, uncertain of his surroundings. He felt as though he'd fallen from a great height and only managed to surface from a world of pain a blinking moment ago. He finally decided he was back in his bedroom.

The first thing that came to mind also came into his immediate view. Grimmjow was craning over him with a bemused expression.

"Are you awake this time?" he asked, a little faithlessly.

Ichigo felt a wave of relief surge his body. He was not in the past, trying to fight for his future. He was here, in this moment. He had to ask Grimmjow what became of them in the memory. "Grimmjow," he managed faintly, hefting his weight into a sit-up position. It came into his view sharply. Ichigo's entire body stiffened with a jolt as he caught sight of his Zanpaktou in Grimmjow's hands. Wait, this was the present. Grimmjow didn't need his sword…why was he…

Ichigo's hand flew to the centre of the blade, clutching its sheath. His eyes struck Grimmjow's. Perhaps the memory didn't go as he'd wanted after all. "Grimmjow, give it to me."

"Of course, I'm giving it to you," Grimmjow said with a frustrated frown. "It's your sword. Are we gonna do this or not?"

"Do what or not?" Ichigo said as the sword left Grimmjow's hands, suddenly pacified.

"Fight these Arrancar."

Ichigo paused for an offbeat moment. "Arrancar?"

"They came while you were sleeping…" the sentence trailed off of Grimmjow's tongue and he digressed, "I told you six times, but you were never awake for any of them. You kept looking like you were about to wake up, then you'd just fall back asleep again. And what were you dreaming?"

"The past…I think…"

"Well get back into the present."

"You wanted me in the past!"

"Just not right now," Grimmjow looked at him intently. "We need you."

Ichigo didn't hesitate to offer his assent with a tacit nod. "Alright, I'm with you. But you gotta fill me in."

"Hmm…how to summarize," Grimmjow said pensively. "Okay, so we left Byakuya and Histugaya in the market…"

"Right…"

"…Then we came here and you started tripping out on memories."

"Okay, but-"

"Ichigo, stay with me. This next part takes us into the past again."

"But you said to stay in the-"

"Ichigo! Stay with me."

{*XOXOX*}

20 MINUTES AGO…

Renji maintained Rukia's pace with exerted effort, certain her slight frame was what provided her with the effortless propulsion. The enemy was not far behind them.

"Stupid Nii-san," Rukia was murmuring mid-plight, clearing a path through the crowded market streets. "I can't believe he's getting away with it all because of some inconvenient—"

"Rukia, look out!" Renji called from behind her, smacking at the translucent blue cero attack as it shredded past him and hurtled toward her. It narrowly avoided impact. He begrudged how distracted she'd become on less pressing matters. "Look, it doesn't really matter what your brother's plans are. Let's focus on this Arrancar attack for the moment."

"He's holding hands with Hitsugaya!"

"Well now, that's just inventing unwanted imagery…"

"No, I mean, he's right up ahead, holding hands with Hits—Oh, the nerve!"

Renji frowned up into the near distance, shocked by Rukia's accurate observation. Byakuya had his hand wrapped 'round the snowy Ice Captain's. An unexpected disappointment crept up on him inexplicably. "Great to see them getting along so well."

{*XOXOX*}

15 MINUTES AGO…

"Stop it," Byakuya snapped commandingly, tightening his grip on Hitsugaya. "If you chase them now, you'll only—"

"Let me go!" Histugaya demanded.

He didn't. "Look, all I'm saying is that Ichigo needs the breathing space. Let him have it. Forceful suggestions, no matter how valid, are often ineffective. Trust me, I've tried."

Hitsugaya finally wrested free from Byakuya's grasp and rung his wrists with his hands. "Don't you think letting him die once was enough?"

"Well it can't exactly happen again."

"Yeah, it can only be worse. If he dies in this life, he's removed from existence."

Byakuya remained silent, passing his gaze up behind them at the unexpected roar that sliced through the air. "Sound like a Hollow to you?"

Renji and Rukia's breathless, frantic dash as they crested the steep roadside nearest pulled into the two Captains' view.

"Run Hitsugaya," Byakuya suggested, picking up a brisk escape-pace.

Rukia's voice cut through the shriek of Arrancar filling the sky. "Yeah, Nii-san, you better run!"

Hitsugaya met the sight of the ravenous Arrancar approaching with desperate concern, stealing a glance down at Renji. "That's a lot of Arrancar. Where'd you find them?"

"They were hard to miss," Renji flung back as he shot past him.

Hitsugaya glared into the skies and reached surreptitiously for his sword hilt. The blurred rush of Arrancar bodies hurdling through the air ignored him entirely however, passing over head with a great black shadow that engulfed the street where Hitsugaya stood. His eyes shot after them worriedly as he traced their direction. "Fuck. It's always Ichigo!"

{*XOXOX*}

10 MINUTES AGO…

Rukia found extra zeal when pursuing her brother, evidently on the edge of her reproaching encounter.

However, Byakuya maintained a steady pace that kept him well ahead, shamelessly running away from conflict in his typical avoid-work fashion. He threw a quick word over to Renji. "So how did this happen?"

"They just found us Captain!" Renji cried back at him. "We were going to fight the first few that arrived, but then they just kept coming! Then Rukia thought it would be a good idea to…um…" Renji's voice bobbed up and down with his running speed. "What was her idea again?"

"To lead them to Nii-san for betraying you," Rukia provided in a whispered hiss.

Renji opted for any other truth. "Never mind. Point is, there's a lot of them."

"Looking for?"

"Get this, they want Ichigo!"

"You're the only person that surprises, Renji." Although secretly, in the depths of a soul room so proud it had all of his potentially embarrassing honesty chained to its walls, he found that adorable.

The Arrancar weren't slowing any. Byakuya made a belated decision to react to the looming threat.

"Okay, well how's this for a plan? Renji and Rukia, get to Ichigo. Tell him he's in danger. We need him to fight with us. Hitsugaya and I will create a cunning ruse to steer the Arrancar in another direction until you succeed in—"

"Nii-san, just fight them!" Rukia suggested, dashing past him. She snatched at Renji's arm to keep him running beside her, in the direction she supposed Ichigo would have taken. "Pretend they're Renji's heart nii-san…and smash them into a million pieces!"

Byakuya frowned at the analogy. He let her go without daring to question.

{*XOXOX*}

5 MINUTES AGO…

Rukia took a lucky guess and drew up in front of Ichigo's house, panting and hanging onto the collar of Renji's shirt to support herself. "God, I hate running. I can hardly breathe afterwards."

"Me neither," Renji confessed, choked at the throat by her clinging hand. She freed him eventually.

"I guess this is it," Rukia said dramatically, rapping her fist on the door. "We have a moment to decide what's more important: the fact that Grimmjow outright betrayed us, or the fact that he and Ichigo make an _adorable_ couple!"

Renji had assumed a winner before one had presented itself.

Grimmjow pulled the door open, scanning his gaze between Rukia and Renji furiously. "Shinigami. What do you want? Ichigo's…not here."

"We support you!" Rukia cried elaborately, causing Renji to cringe at how random she sounded.

Grimmjow presumed she meant in battle. "We don't need support."

"Of course you do!" Rukia corrected him, grinning delightedly. "And that's why you've got it. Tell him, Renji!"

Renji floundered, caught off guard. Grimmjow's pressing stare reminded him of the harsh brawny boyfriends every girl he ever thought of asking out already had. "I…have nothing to say to him…"

"Renji," Rukia reprimanded, turning a disappointed glare on him. "Stop being such a douche."

"I just…Look, Arrancar are attacking, man. That's all we came to tell you," Renji supplied quickly. Grimmjow's expression began to resemble an overcast sky as he went on. "Ichigo needs to get this warning, so he can get up and help us fight."

Grimmjow stared stoically out ahead of them, searching the sky with cautious eyes. "The Arrancar want Ichigo?"

"That's right."

A familiar flashing thought seared through Grimmjow's headspace for a startling moment. Like déjà vu from years ago, before Ichigo's demise. His first instinct was to keep Ichigo as far away from the battlefield as was physically possible. Except this time, past experience meant he knew Ichigo would try to come anyway.

The King and his Sword, he'd called them once. Why was there such a nagging doubt to employ that title when it came down to the actual battle? Ichigo was a better fighter than he'd ever be. Ichigo was the sword in their name. Why did it make sense to him to hold Ichigo back from trying?

Grimmjow caught a brief, reflective glimpse of their shared past in his mind; he was plunged into the memories.

He saw Ichigo in every scene of his life he ever bothered remembering. Ichigo was always saving everything and everyone he encountered, heedless of the consequences. Grimmjow had been rescued from the battlefield, but he still felt like he'd died that day. This life was somewhat different than his old one. He'd found a safety in Ichigo's acceptance of him. A reason to accept himself, maybe.

That was why he wanted to keep Ichigo from the field. He wanted to save Ichigo, the way Ichigo had saved him.

"I'll get him somewhere safe," Grimmjow assured Renji and Rukia, nodding in understanding. "Just please, keep the Arrancar away from us until we can build up some kind of resistance."

"Resistance being…?" Renji inquired dubiously.

Grimmjow glared at him. "I don't have time to plan it. We need more numbers, that's all I know."

"We're on it," Rukai volunteered, bobbing her head profusely. "This is our mission. You just get Ichigo somewhere safe. I'd say the tower they locked me in when Nii-san decided I broke the rules. Seal yourselves up there. No freaking escape, if I ever did try." She strayed a little farther, "Nii-san's been a bit of a bitch in my books for a while now, come to think of it..."

"The tower, gotcha," Grimmjow interrupted. He threw a quick look over at Renji. "Can you do me a favor?"

Grimmjow's muscular, chiseled chest seemed to be staring Renji down through his open-hanging shirt. Could he say no? "S-sure."

"Get Ichigo's family somewhere safe before the Arrancar gets to them. Again."

Renji understood at once and nodded. He hadn't thought that far himself. "Oh, right. Don't want a repeat of history."

"Let's go, Renji," Rukia prompted, tugging at his sleeve again. She stole a quick glance up at Grimmjow. "We gotta win this time."

Grimmjow gave her an affirming nod, receding back into the house and pushing the door closed behind him. It was going to be near impossible to win this time, if he remembered the last time correctly. But maybe, just maybe…

A groan interrupted his thought process, wafting across from the bedroom. Grimmjow darted into Ichigo's room, thankful his father and siblings were out in the market place just then. It made maneuvering the house easier. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo appeared to be stirring, brown eyes dizzy as he opened them.

Grimmjow leant over his face to inspect him.

"Are you awake this time?" he asked a little faithlessly.

{*XOXOX*}

BACK IN PRESENT TIME…

"So now I'm telling you this story, when we should be running," Grimmjow concluded, stopping to brush a stray tuft of hair from Ichigo's eyes. "You're a mess, but you'll do."

"I'll what?"

"Just…get your sword," Grimmjow ordered, placing his hands over Ichigo's and tightening them against the hilt of the blade he was holding. "Keep it with you this time."

"This time?"

"Yeah, it's my new plan. It's the reverse of what I tried the last time."

"When I died?"

"Exactly. So this time, you'll live. Let's go."

"Grimmjow," Ichigo placed a hand on his chest to restrain him.

Grimmjow's eyes swerved to Ichigo worriedly. "What?"

"The last time." An uncomfortable silence rung between them. It lasted until Ichigo's voice emerged again. "You mean to say you took my sword from me the last time?"

Grimmjow had been waiting for this moment to descend on him from that minute, all those years ago. When he'd first gripped Ichigo's sword in one hand and opened the door that led him to abandon with the other. His mind tortured itself with recollections of the past, of the state Ichigo had been reduced to when he tried to fight without his Zanpaktou. It was unbelievable, the clarity with which he perceived the unwanted vision from the past. Those vivid, appalling memories.

Grimmjow shook his head slowly, sensing that they had no time to argue. Still, he couldn't resist the temptation to indulge him. "Ichigo, you…remembered." Grimmjow blinked with deliberate pause, certain to stare directly into his Shinigami friend's gaze. "Is that all you remembered?"

{*XOXOX*}

My quickest update ever! :D

Haha, please leave a review! And thanks so much to everyone who does!

~MadeOfSunshine


	8. Chapter 8

_Before You Forget About Me_

_Chapter 8: From Across Worlds_

{*XOXOX*}

STILL PRESENT DAY…

Ichigo blinked, caught off guard. He took a moment to wrap his head around Grimmjow's lingering question.

"Is that all you remembered?"

Meaning what? He wanted details on what Ichigo had remembered concerning their romantic involvement?

Ichigo choked back the sudden uncertainty that lodged his airways, temporizing. "Uh…"

Grimmjow waited, patience unwavering as he pressed his eyes to Ichigo in full attention.

Ichigo drew a blank, the cogs of his mind caught on the attempt to process such a demand. "I…" Did acknowledging their involvement in the past reestablish it in the present? Or was he over-thinking things again?

With debated hesitance, Ichigo dragged his vision into Grimmjow's range. Their breathing seemed to amplify in the silence.

Ichigo had remembered; vague traces at first, but eventually, the full-blown memories of their being together. Hiding in the Kuchiki mansion to explore one another. Sometimes not hiding. Some of the things they'd shared, or said. Some of the feelings. Maybe not enough for him to be certain yet.

It just felt as though the Ichigo of the past was an outsider. A stranger. As though Ichigo of the present was watching the memories of someone he didn't know…someone he had no connection to unravel and unfold, instead of retrieving the fragments of his own history.

Was there a reason death kept people from revisiting their past lives? What was the sinking feeling he was experiencing with every memory he dredged up, prying the gates of the natural order apart to gain what it had denied him?

His skin felt frigid. When at last he drew open his mouth in reluctant speech, Grimmjow's hand quickly flit to stop him. Their eyes caught.

"Don't even say it," Grimmjow said, a small smile flickering onto his face as he regarded Ichigo. He took a step inwards, shifting them closer together.

Testing him. Ichigo didn't pull away.

Grimmjow reunited their mouths, feeling a sensation that hadn't departed the day Ichigo had-like fire ripping through his mind. Ichigo overcame the surprise too late, recognizing the familiarity in the action while at the same time struggling to find a reason to end it. It was oddly comforting to be close to someone familiar when he'd grown accustomed to not knowing anything for such a long while. Although for a moment it did feel as though he only knew Grimmjow from a distant dream.

Grimmjow didn't falter even as Ichigo tugged away from him, drawing in breath. A smirk twitched onto his face. "Still a modest kisser, huh?"

Ichigo couldn't stop feeling Grimmjow's tongue in his mouth, so he averted gaze discretely to hide his confused expression. "Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow's hands were at Ichigo's side, his voice projecting an infinite enthusiasm. "I'm so glad you remembered me, Ichigo. I was dying. I missed you. I thought you'd never remember me."

"Grimmjow—" but Grimmjow kissed him quiet, without meaning to, in his excitement. Ichigo wondered about his own reaction's meaning in that complicated instant. An instant where his body pulled inwards while his mind pulled away.

When Grimmjow felt the pressure of Ichigo's belated shove he withdrew, suppressing his own desires and meeting eyes with Ichigo instead. "Yeah?"

Ichigo waded through a sea of questions, before one stuck out at him.

"Has an Arrancar ever loved a Shingami before?" Ichigo asked slowly, tentatively, trying to set his own confusion aside for long enough to make one thing clear to them. Grimmjow stared back at him with the incomprehension of a child as he muttered, "Aren't they always fighting? Won't…we always just be the cause of more fighting?"

A sudden realization freed Grimmjow's eyes from their hopeful fixation. Helplessly, he pulled his hands from Ichigo's waist to stare at him. "Ichigo…"

"Look, Arrancar are coming for us right now," Ichigo said in a hurry, trying to escape where his own words had taken them. The dull clack of steel interlaced with his sentence as he gripped his sword hilt. "We don't have time to talk about this."

Grimmjow paused, blunted and blindsided for a minute. He looked away in distress. "Ichigo, if you don't want to be with me, say that now."

"There isn't time now." Ichigo made for the front door, busying his hands with tying his Shinigami robe tighter. He had a lot to think about. Grimmjow's slamming his back against the door to block it caught him by surprise, but he resisted flinching. "Get out of the way. I thought we were going?"

"Make time."

Ichigo felt the conflict get his back up. He returned Grimmjow's stare. "What difference does it make if we don't live, fool?"

"You used to call me fool all the time…when you loved me." Grimmjow frowned. "So, does this mean..?"

"I'll tell you when I know for certain." Ichigo's voice rose, his senses heightened as he grew flustered. He didn't want to let go anymore than he wanted to hold on. "You're losing focus." He was afraid to consider Grimmjow's question because if he really did want to be with him, it meant he was making a decision that subverted all that Soul Society-and perhaps all that his own kind-stood for. It had been easy to be selfish the first time, and look where that had gotten them. "It's complicated. The last time a Shinigami and an Arrancar tried to be anything other than enemies…" Ichigo trailed off, losing himself. They were making themselves a bridge for war; that was what it felt like. They were connecting two worlds better left apart. His family had died because he'd thought he could make something simple out of a love that was worlds away.

Grimmjow appeared to take no impact from the adverse tone, adamancy locked in his eyes as they continued the search for honesty. He tipped Ichigo's jaw up to steer his focus back. "Ichigo, I've know you since another life, remember? I know you better than I know myself. You can't hide from me. If you want to leave, just say it."

"Hey, I know you better than you know yourself too. Better than anyone knows you, actually." Ichigo realized that didn't help his case, so he dropped his eyes. It was an unpleasant thought-leaving Grimmjow. "I just wonder if—" he was cut short. Interruption stole into the discussion as a sudden burst of cero broke through from above, punching a hole in the roof and raining debris down over their startled heads. Ichigo ducked down instinctively, throwing his eyes up to try and catch a glimpse of their opponent, only to find Grimmjow's attempt to cover him blocking his view.

"You're not getting him," Grimmjow's voice expressed, his body arching in a feral manner that should have unnerved Ichigo, but somehow only made him feel safer. He recognized it.

He still couldn't see the enemy from the way Grimmjow was leaning over him, along with the spray of dust clouding any hopes of potential view. But the voice came through as distinct and familiar.

Ulquiorra spoke with the formidable air of someone with more arrogance than accuracy. "Grimmjow, you know why Aizen's doing this. It isn't going to stop until he gets Ichigo."

"He already got Ichigo once!" Grimmjow's volume was louder than ever above Ichigo's head. "Nothing's going to stop Aizen unless we do."

There was a pause. "I'm aware of that."

"Then fight with me!"

"You never change. And you never listen."

"Ulquiorra, I thought you were the closest thing to sane that the Arrancar had among them."

Ulquiorra scoffed. "Well, to prove you wrong, I'll let you know why I'm here."

"Tell me."

"I'm on your side." The disbelieving pause that engulfed them carried itself for a full minute.

"Kind of blows your theory of my sanity out of the water, doesn't it?" Ulquiorra murmured.

{*XOXOX*}

"And that was when Nii-san decided he loves you!" Rukia was exciting herself by saying, rushing along the edges of buildings at a blinding speed and approaching the Tenth Squad. "I am so out of breath! But I'll tell you this, Renji…Renji?" She skid to a stop at the lack of response, forgetting he'd split up with her to procure the Sixth Squad's help around half-her-story-ago, rendering the entire effort futile. She furrowed her eyebrows in self-pity, brooding over trivial affairs while the screech of Arrancar consumed the skies a short distance overhead. "Well, you're going to find out someday." Rukia walked at a more gradual pace to catch her breath as she entered between the gates of the Tenth Squad. She was only assuming they would assist the cause, considering their Captain Hitsugaya's desperate battle efforts on its side of the field. She was unpleasantly surprised by the reaction generated.

"Hey, boys!" she barked unmindfully as she stole into their cabin, alarming the hell out of the sleeping division members. "Trouble on the frontlines! Let's go!"

"It's two 'o clock in the morning!" someone shouted at random.

"It's whatever time I say it is!" Rukia heard herself, and cringed. "I sound like Nii-san."

{*XOXOX*}

Renji had his squad congregated behind him, arguing about rankings and where each one should stand in a manner both time-consuming and infuriating. "Guys! It doesn't matter. If I can be Lieutenant, then you can be whatever you want. Just stay behind me." He sprang forwards, hoping they'd pursue him as requested. It was reluctant, but the squad all tramped after him towards the Tower.

They bickered the entire way, and Renji finally acquired a sense for why Byakuya might hold the attitude 'to hell with working with my team's members'. But 'to hell with work in general' would actually be more accurate.

"Rukia!" Renji cried, as he saw her approach drawing steadily up from across the path. They converged dead centre, with the Tenth Squad behind her and the Sixth Squad behind him. "Is this it? We got everyone who'll follow?"

"Everyone who won't bitch about us letting Arrancar in here in the first place, yeah." Rukia tossed a look back to the noisy murmuring parading in the crowd behind her. "Kind of loud for a secretive operation though."

"Hey, Rukia. I was thinking about something."

"What is it?"

"Didn't that Tower you were detained in seal your energy?"

"It's called, reiryoku, Renji," Rukia corrected him, frowning. "Come on. Be cool."

"Yeah, I don't understand you when you insert random Japanese into your speech."

"I don't do that."

"You do it all the time! Like, Nii-san. And reir-reir—"

"Reiryoku."

"That. And yaoi. What the heck is yaoi?"

"Hey, aren't we in a hurry?" someone called out from behind Renji.

Rukia relented. "Fine. Energy. Did the Tower seal my energy? And yeah, it did. What's you point?"

"Well, what if it seals our energy again? Isn't that dangerous? What if the Arrancar find us in there and the Tower's inhibiting our power right when we need to fight them…"

"Yeah, I don't get you when you insert random pretentious words into your speech, like inhibited."

Renji paused to contemplate. "Okay, that came out of nowhere."

"Renji, the point of the Tower is that it inhibits us. That way any battle we engage in will be brought down to a smaller scale that won't cause a stir in Soul Society and alert people to what we've actually let happen here."

"Oh," Renji acknowledged. "Well, that's brilliant. Good thinking."

"Thank you," Rukia accepted the praise while gesturing her squad towards the Tower. "I just thought of it now."

{*XOXOX*}

Byakuya flicked the blood from his sword disdainfully. "Well, that was disturbing."

"We let all the Arrancar slip past us trying to take out these Hollow," Hitsugaya berated them. He jerked his sword clear of a corpse, a sluice of blood splattering across the ground. "I think we're the worst Captains ever."

"What's this?" Byakuya asked distractedly, as a tentative black butterfly flapped about his head. "Some kind of…message…"

"Do you even work here?" Hitsugaya asked in exasperation.

Byakuya took the message delivered with a stricken expression. "Hitsugaya, we're due at the Tower."

"The Tower? Why?"

"Because my sister and my…close-personal-acquaintance are going to be at the Tower."

"And?"

"With our Squads."

"Why?"

"Don't you get it?" Byakuya chimed impatiently, being unintentionally severe. "If we lose this, we lose everything."

Hitsugaya sheathed his sword, keeping his focus on the Sixth Squad Captain. "But that Tower messes up our energy potential."

"Inhibits."

"What?"

"The word is 'inhibits'. It's like I keep telling Abarai…Speak properly. It makes you sound eloquent."

{*XOXOX*}

Rukia and Renji ordered the Squads to wait outside the Tower's walls before entering. They scanned left and right in an effort to deduce whether or not Grimmjow and Ichigo had arrived safely.

"Let's check up here," Rukia suggested, bearing through the doors of her old prison chamber. Renji rolled his eyes at the nostalgic sounds she made with each passing footstep.

A sudden noise brought them to attention again, with Renji's rush to the window being in an effort to check on the Squads. It seemed to be stemming from among their numbers. Renji realized, by squinting through the obscuring darkness, that his Captain had merely caught up to their plight.

"The Captain's here," Renji told Rukia excitedly, sending his smile back out through the window and starting to wave. Byakuya had cut a neat line through the centre of his rapt squad, and their exuberance to see him-someone who might stand a chance at saving them. Byakuya noticed Renji's frantic hailing of him and made an inconspicuous effort to get there faster. Histugaya followed, glaring knives at all those who welcomed him; though he was probably just broken beyond repair by the sleep deprivation.

When the four had reunited in Rukia's old detainment chamber, it appeared to be for only a temporary respite. Sudden alarm erupted from below the Tower again, suggesting disturbance beyond their scope.

Renji tensed, still nearest to the window, as he took a look outside again. "Oh my God…already?"

"What? What is it?" Rukia pestered inquisitively, jumping up beside him. "I can't see anything."

Renji turned his stare straight back into his Captain's. "They're saying it's an Arrancar, and it looks enormous."

"I can feel it from here," Hitsugaya noted, biting his lip. "Its energy is massive, but once it gets into the Tower it'll be limited. That'll even the playing field."

"It's already in the Tower," Byakuya surprised them with, eliciting turning heads. "That's as low as it's getting."

"You mean to tell me this Tower is useless on strong people?" Rukia burst furiously. "But it worked on me!"

No one felt they needed to explain it to her.

Without warning, the ground suddenly shook like a quake had struck it, rippling underfoot in what felt like a violent shifting of the building's weight distribution.

Renji caught himself on Byakuya's shirt without meaning to, and it filled the Captain with an odd, protective instinct.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya asked as he clung to a startled Rukia.

"It's his energy," Byakuya explained, a noble pang pressing in his chest. "He needs to be driven out of here, or he'll bring the building down."

"I can hear him," Hitsugaya remarked, attention latching onto the stairs just through the doorway. "He's on his way up to us."

"Be a hero, Nii-san."

Byakuya followed his little sister's eyes across to Renji as he stabilized; he was still holding on in case the ground shook again. He swallowed his apprehension. "I'll…do it."

"Yeah, you do it!" Hitsugaya cried in relief. He didn't want to be a Captain just then. "You got this. Pretend it's a vibe and kill it!"

Byakuya glanced down sparingly at Renji, noticing the way he looked up at him in thinly veiled awe. It inspired many things in him, but most of all, it drove him to try something he had never done before.

Byakuya accepted his imminent death, leaning down to kiss Renji full on the mouth in one brief and polite expression of farewell. "Before I go…" he said, and left it at that.

Renji tried to recollect his thoughts in time to speak when Byakuya suddenly slipped from his hands and turned for the door.

A dramatic exit was on the brink of execution, hearts lodged in everyone's throats-except for Hitsugaya's, who appeared genuinely repulsed by the demonstration. Suddenly a shadow struck through the entrance way, bearing twin heads and a tail that whipped back like some enraged serpent.

Byakuya's hand hit his sword at the same instant that the realization hit his mind. The shadow emerged into the light and salved their panic. It was merely Ichigo and Grimmjow, the latter of which was transformed into panther state. Side by side in the dark, they had appeared monstrous.

"Ichigo," Byakuya let slip breathlessly, staring between the two. "And Grimmjow."

"And Arrancar!" Hitsugaya let fly, eyes stuck to the open space behind them as it suddenly filled.

The bat wings of Ulquiorra's transformation flapped him into a standstill.

Byakuya felt the same energy that had shaken them earlier rattle the ground again, gentler this time. He pierced his eyes at Ulquiorra as though about to engage. "Ulqui—"

"It's okay," Ichigo said to quench their alarm, quick to spare Ulquiorra an appreciative glance. "He's on our side."

It settled everyone, apart from Byakuya, who appeared a little physically sickened by the announcement. "Oh," he expressed calmly, turning an expression of passive hysteria on his former Arrancar rival. "Are you…sure?"

Ulquiorra nodded stoically, staring into nothingness.

Byakuya tried to accept that fact until it became a weighted thought that sunk his bravado. He didn't dare look back and confront Rukia, Hitsugaya, and most certainly Renji. "Bu-but we've been enemies for…centuries. Decades and decades of killing each other…"

"It is a temporary liaison," Ulquiorra said impassively.

Byakuya glowered in uncontained horror. "Please…kill me," he muttered through clenched teeth.

{*XOXOX*}

Moar GrimmIchi ftw! :D

Like I always say…pretty please leave a comment! I love your feedback, you guyz! =P


	9. Chapter 9

Before You Forget About Me

Chapter 9: The Plan

{*XOXOX*}

Grimmjow roared with abrupt laughter. "That's your plan?" he asked Toshiro.

Hitsugaya's expression sunk before he swung it to Ichigo. "I hate this guy."

"Look, it's not the worst plan ever," Ichigo came in to mediate. "I just think we need to be more discrete, is all."

"No, I'm with Hitsugaya," Rukia added her input. "Gotta be direct! Isn't that right, Byakuya nii-san?"

Byakuya made a wounded sound before coming back with no reply.

Ulquiorra looked pissed-at the lack of order present-for the entire duration of the debate. They were wasting valuable time-in his eyes- a commodity they had very little to spare.

And everyone was too sidetracked by their own whirring thoughts to be bothered with connecting.

I'm so aware of myself right now, Byakuya was thinking. How the heck does one end up this way trying to do a good deed?

This group lacks cohesion, Ulquiorra thought dismally. And leadership.

I wanna be leader, Hitsugaya was thinking petulantly.

If I swing this right, I can get Hitsugaya to be all heartbroken and go in for some love triangle drama! Rukia thought ecstatically.

Ichigo looked puzzled as he noted the enigmatic range of expressions before him. Then he spoke up at last. "Why don't we just split into teams and finish off whoever comes at us?"

"No!" Ulquiorra practically gasped. "Splitting up would mean chaos. We can't have that."

"Well, would you rather have them gang bang us?" Ichigo quipped back rudely.

Ulquiorra paused. "I would think you'd know that numbers on numbers would be the same whether disjointed or joined, in the bigger picture."

Ichigo shook his head, glancing at Grimmjow. "I'm pretty sure we'll break down the building if we try to fight them army to army."

"This is barely an army," Renji put in, turning heads because he'd been quiet for such a long time.

Byakuya looked at him and blinked a little. Then he looked at all the other faces and felt grossly outnumbered for some reason. He wished to get away from them. "I want to go ahead with Ichigo's plan."

"But…the chaos…" Ulquiorra moaned.

Byakuya glared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I screw you over?"

{*XOXOX*}

Rukia ran in fervent bounds. Hitsugaya was panting while trying to keep up with her.

"So, where are we headed again?"

"Somewhere. Say, Hitsugaya…bet that came as a surprise to you, didn't it?" Rukia slipped into the conversation in a way she must have believed was inconspicuous.

Hitsugaya frowned. "Um, if you're talking about Ulquiorra's joining us, then—"

"No, I meant Byakuya's undying love and infatuation with Renji Abarai."

"Oh, that," Hitsugaya said, cringing at the flashback. "Well, I'll bet it came as even more of a surprise to Renji Abarai. Which part of the building did Ichigo say we needed to cover?"

"Um, I dunno. But say, Hitsuagya. Doesn't it bother you just a little bit, under the surface? That they're together right now? Somewhere out there?"

Hitsugaya snorted. "Well, a little. I mean I'm not homophobic or anything, but, they could at least do it all at home, ya know."

"Where you wouldn't have to watch," Rukia whispered, as though it were something tragic.

Hitsugaya nodded for different reasons. "Exactly. Hey, isn't that an Arrancar?"

Rukia spared it a glance, and then gushed on in her excitement. "Don't change the topic!"

{*XOXOX*}

Now, more than ever, I want to be invisible, Byakuya dwelt on that wish dimly. He cast his eyes to Renji, forgetting to smile when Renji looked back. Stupid life lessons, teaching me things I didn't want to know.

Renji coughed to clear his throat. "So," he said pleasantly. "Are we proceeding to the bottom floor?"

Byakuya sighed. "I suppose that would be the obligatory thing to do, since it's our instruction. Which way is down, Renji?"

Renji continued to play the ignorant card to its full effect. "Um, just down…the stairs."

"Good. That's good." Byakuya slid his eyes away. "Say, remember when Ulquiorra joined this little escapade?"

"Yeah?"

"And then before that, we were all hanging around and…saying stuff…"

"Aha."

"And then, some of us did stuff…" Byakuya made a point of staring.

Renji tried to be the nice person he was and avoided the uncomfortable topic. "Yes."

"For the love of everything, just react already!"

"Now?" Renji asked in surprise, taken aback by the pressure. "I guess I—"

"You know what-it's obvious!" Byakuya stole in with his surmise, unused to listening. "You made it very clear by your aberrant silences and your avoidance of the issue."

"Well, actually, I was just waiting for a better time to tell you—"

"Should have known…my heart was too vulnerable to throw into this world," Byakuya stared nobly ahead of himself and uttered, "and now I'll never get it back."

"I wanted to say—"

"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" Byakuya choked on the words as he shifted into motion. "Wouldn't want to linger in these halls, where the ghost of my once beating heart now haunts us in its wasted death."

"You're pretty poetic today," Renji noted, unable to get a word in edgewise.

Byakuya nodded. "Poetry is how the lovesick man cries."

"You know I've been here the entire time, right?" Ulquiorra interjected, following along they started to move.

Byakuya sighed mournfully. "I know that."

{*XOXOX*}

Say something, Ichigo demanded of himself, stifled by the expectations. Say something!

Grimmjow maintained an even pace, his stride wide and graceful. Ichigo liked his panther state, whether he admitted it or not. He liked all sides of Grimmjow.

"Do you think if we split up, they'll automatically split up, too?" Grimmjow asked suddenly, in his seductive panther voice.

Ichigo blinked twice. "That hadn't occurred to me."

Grimmjow dropped his eye level. "I mean, you're the one they want."

Ichigo stopped running abruptly. Grimmjow slammed to a halt a second later, tossing a look back at him. "What's the matter?"

"Before we go a step further, tell me why you keep discussing that part."

"What part?"

"The part about me dying. Why does everything have to link back to that?"

"Because it happened! I don't want it to happen again."

"You're blaming yourself for something I did," Ichigo stressed the words. "I chased after you that day, Grimmjow. I took some random sword and was arrogant enough to land myself in Aizen's lair without any hope of getting out."

"And I took the only sword that would have gotten you out," Grimmjow inserted. The room was colored in splashes of fading daylight from the high arched windows. "Want me to go over it again?"

Ichigo stepped right up in front of Grimmjow, almost wishing he could physically fend his argument off. "No. I've heard it. Now all I want is for you to forget about it. And do this with me, in the present."

"It's true what I said, you know."

"What you said?"

"Before you died, I told you something. It was true. It's still true. In fact, I think the only reason I was able to tell you was because you were dying right afterwards."

Ichigo frowned on trying to digest the information. "What are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter. Just, follow me." And Grimmjow broke into a run again.

{*XOXOX*}

"There they come," Gin said to Tosen, grinning fiendishly. "I wonder if it matters which one we kill first."

"Do you sense that?" Tosen asked suddenly, straining to listen. "I think…Aizen is in our presence."

Gin raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You don't think he came to finish off Ichigo himself, do you?"

"Somehow, based on the last conversation I had with him, I believe he's actually come to finish Grimmjow," Tosen corrected him. He touched his own sword. "I'm afraid that means we have Ichigo to deal with, since the Arrancar are so set on finishing all the Captains off first."

"It's a good idea, in theory. Then the Captains won't be able to access Grimmjow or Ichigo's death scenes."

"Hmph," Tosen acknowledged reluctantly. "I guess it's hard to believe, considering that Arrancar are so few on good ideas."

{*XOXOX*}

"That's one heck of an Arrancar," Renji noted, staring at it from a fair length away. He was tucked behind a collapsed pillar its bulbous body mass had probably knocked over when it was breaking and entering.

Ulquiorra crept up between Byakuya and Renji and joined their hiding spot. Byakuya stiffened unappreciatively at his presence."That's Zommari, number seven of the Espada. I could beat him, but you'd have to stay back from the battle."

Byakuya snorted as though it were arbitrary information. "Avoiding encounters suites me just fittingly. Abarai? Are you going to adhere to this decision?"

Renji nodded at the strange word choice. "Um, sure."

"Good. Then fair thee well, Arrancar," Byakuya told Ulquiorra, a liar's smile jumping to his lips. "May this all work out the way I hope."

Ulquiorra frowned at the ambiguous wording. Then he leapt from his cover and charged at Zommari.

Renji looked to Byakuya quietly. "Hey, um, about what we were saying earlier?"

"I'm aware of your insatiable hunger, Abarai. There is nothing I can do about that now."

"No, I mean uh, before that."

"Oh. What?" Byakuya asked as though sulking.

The battle of the century erupted beyond their hiding place. Ulquiorra's screams of battle infiltrated the air and clashed with the sound of swords and ceros.

"What would it mean to you if I admitted that I made you like me?" Renji asked him.

Byakuya frowned at that. "I don't see it as wholly possibly."

"No, really…think about it."

And he did.

{*XOXOX*}

A FEW WEEKS EARLIER…

Renji caught the mass load of papers before they toppled off his Captain's desk. Looked like a lot of work. And Byakuya wasn't back yet-probably still stuck in what he'd call 'one of Yamamato's tedious meeting arrangements.'. Couldn't hurt to start grading off some of the workload for him, right?

Renji settled down in his Captain's chair and set to work filling in all of the easier parts of the overabundance of paperwork. He kind of just wanted to free up Byakuya's time. In fact, that had become the only reason he did any work lately.

Byakuya spotted him on his way up the path back home, when he stole a glance in through the windows. What an overachiever, he had thought proudly, before going off to do something that would not disturb the process of his work getting done for him. Later that night he came back to find a sleeping Abarai with his arms on Byakuya's desk, being adorable. Byakuya didn't suspect anything, even though his little sister Rukia kept passing comments about it.

Events for the last few months had been similar. Byakuya had begun to feel a sense of warmth towards Renji Abarai—something unusual for him. Ever since Renji had made the list of his Lieutenant candidates without any prior experience. How suspect was that, anyway?

{*XOXOX*}

Byakuya returned to the present, becoming aware of the times Renji stood in his corner or at his back or at his side, and then looked up. "You even started reading the dictionary just to better converse with me," Byakuya noted, suddenly elevated. "How…considerate."

"That's what I've been saying," Renji said, taking a breath. "I just never thought it was working. You were always so cordial with me."

"I am cordial with even myself, Renji," Byakuya said, shimmying closer. "But now that I think about it—"

The raucous sound of Ulquiorra's body being slammed into the far walls broke their dialogue. Ulquiorra cried out suddenly. "Change of plans! I'm gonna need backup!"

"Bad timing," Byakuya said quietly to Renji. "We should probably help him."

"Or…" Renji suggested, "We could run away and avoid work?"

"I like the way you think, Abarai."

They took off to the baying cries of Ulquiorra's fury. "Do you have any idea how much effort this is, you ungrateful—are you seriously leaving me?" Ulquiorra's wings flapped to keep him suspended in the air. The outrage that enveloped him for their impertinence was more than sufficient to finish of Zommari.

{*XOXOX*}

"Can't believe we just beat that Arrancar in cold blood," Hitsugaya admitted.

"Never get in a fangirl's way!" Rukia told him. "Now tell me, and be honest, what do you really think Byakuya's feelings for you are?"

"I don't know. You should ask him."

"But if you had to guess?"

"Just ask him. Look, there he goes right now."

Rukia glanced in the direction he pointed. Sure as anything, there went her brother, racing off beside Renji. They were not even being subtle about abandoning the building.

"He's escaping," Hitsugaya said dryly, looking to Rukia. "He was from the Noble house, did you say?"

"Well, then there's only one pairing really left to fight for," Rukia put into perspective, staring out behind her into the looming passageway. "GrimmIchi."

"Grimm what?"

{*XOXOX*}


	10. The End

Before You Forget About Me

Chapter 10: The End

{*XOXOX*}

PRESENT DAY

HUECO MUNDO

A FEW HOURS LATER…

Grimmjow caught a sense of something moving nearby. It was vague. Untraceable, maybe. But whatever he thought he saw through his hazy vision, he could not place in a context of time or space.

"Ichigo?" he mumbled blurrily, unsure of whom he had been with last. The name of that person finally returned itself to him, along with a glimpse of the memory. "Aizen?"

Grimmjow was too weak to defend himself against the impending darkness that crept into his conscious, closing his mind like a door. He was weakened. He was remembering snatches of the fight that had done this to him. Ichigo and he…they'd split up. Ichigo had been lucky to take the left. Because Aizen was to the right.

And Aizen had killed Grimmjow. He remembered that clearly. He was dying. Yet somehow there was an element to the memory that spread a bitter smile over his jaws; a smile that ran jagged until it met the grinning, broken Arrancar mask on the side of his face where it appeared elongated into something wider, crazier. That door of consciousness felt heavy.

But Grimmjow had saved Ichigo this time. Grimmjow had killed Aizen in the process of defending himself. He'd known how to finally crush Aizen. Their last fight had shone light in all the right crevices and he'd known where Aizen's ill-recovered body was most fragile. Unfortunately, even though illness brought him below the norm, Aizen was not easy to kill without tremendous consequence.

The point was that Ichigo was alive.

{*XOXOX*}

"I am telling you to help us fight!" Rukia demanded, clutching at Byakuya's robe and tugging.

He relinquished with a withdrawing swipe of his sleeve. "Alright! You make such impractical demands." Rukia arched one of her thin little eyebrows in question. Byakuya stammered. "Grimmjow and Ichigo are probably dead, Rukia. You saw that light show! We all know that was Aizen up there! If they hadn't been in the Tower, with their energy suppressed, we'd all be dead!"

The light in Rukia's eyes was ebbing. "Why did Ichigo have to go fight Aizen?"

"Because it's Grimmjow's problem," Hitsugaya muttered. "I always knew it would turn into this."

"He couldn't have died, right?" Rukia asked, everyone deviating to their own track of thought.

"We killed the Arrancar, and we got to the meeting spot," Renji offered her tentatively. "Those were our orders. I'm…not sure what else there was we could have done to prevent it."

"Ichigo's plan, and Grimmjow's meeting spot," Rukia reminded them, watching the legions of squad members they'd congregated before the war charge out from the doors covered in sheens of blood.

Byakuya looked to their breathless exit likewise. It appeared there was nothing left to stop the members from leaving, which meant the Arrancar they'd been facing were disposed of as well. "Hey, that's all of them."

"How do we know Ulquiorra was successful?" Hitsugaya pondered aloud.

Renji's face dropped. "Um. Well, geez, have faith in him, you guys."

"It's Ichigo!" Rukia cried out suddenly, throwing up an eager wave. "ICH-I-GO! Over here!"

He was smiling. Even at a distance, as the blood of the last battle slipped down his mouth.

He flew across the vast distance in no time, chest heaving for recovery. Rukia slid her arms around his neck and hugged him fondly. "My God! We thought you'd died…AGAIN!"

He giggled, pushing her gently off him and encountering Renji's eyes by chance. "Where's Grimmjow?"

Renji blinked back his surprise, the smile dropping off his face instantly. "You mean you weren't with him, fighting Aizen?"

"Aizen?" Ichigo asked, and his genuine surprise put them all on edge. "Where the hell was Aizen? I finished off the last three Arrancar. I didn't…" Ichigo's eyes widened. He appeared unwilling as he looked back up at the Tower. "Did Grimmjow…?"

There wasn't much left for anyone to say to him. It became clear as the light slowly faded in every room across the tower, marking the ends to the fights that had existed in them.

Hitsugaya sunk his orb-like eyes, blue and catching, to the ground.

People began to assemble around their Captains, eager for succor and praise after the hard battles won. Byakuya stood up tall to attend to his Squad, with Renji and Rukia beside him.

Hitsugaya hung back at first. "Ichigo…."

"He'll come," Ichigo said, and without seeing his face, Hitsugaya knew he was almost crying.

He clamped down on his bottom lip. "Ichigo—"

"He was in…that building, right?" Ichigo persisted, glaring at it. "That part of the tower? Right? We should check it. He could still be in there. He could be trapped in there."

"Um, Grimmjow—"

"He could be! The spire next to that room is completely caved in! Maybe the rubble got in his way. Move!" Ichigo knocked the younger Captain aside, bound for the smoldering mess of building up ahead.

Hitsugaua dropped his voice so that Ichigo would need to focus to hear him. "Grimmjow was in the spire, Ichigo."

It stopped him. A lasting pause held Ichigo back from taking a step further. His voice roughened. "Then he's in the part of the building next to it by now, anyway."

"How do you know?"

"Because he got out," Ichigo provided simply, facing Hitsugaya for the first time since their confrontation had begun. "He definitely got out."

"I'll look with you," Hitsugaya said evenly, with an etch of sympathy prevalent, "but I don't think we're gonna find him."

"You think, or you hope?" Ichigo asked, unmindfully cutting in his time of mourning.

Hitsugaya looked scalded. "I don't…I hope we find him."

"I'll look alone, thank you."

"Ichigo—" Hitsugaya's voice was lost as his friend departed. He thought about going back to tend to his squad, but another, more persistent part of him thought about helping Ichigo anyway.

He eventually followed, his squad calling out to him as he disappeared in Ichigo's wake. "_Maybe it could work out_," Hitsuagya thought, dismal as he chased Ichigo's shadow up the precipitous steps of the higher halls. "_I mean, this is Ichigo and Grimmjow. I don't think either of them are very true to what an actual Shinigami and Arrancar are anyway."_

He paused as he caught sight of the doorway opposite the one Ichigo had just crossed through. He had a bad feeling about it. With a stealthy touch on his blade, Hitsugaya moved in to get a closer look. Then he heard a cry from the chamber in the room opposite and returned his attention to Ichigo. By the time he came into the room, he'd half expected to see Ichigo grounded. Getting attacked or defeated even.

Of course, it was much worse. There was no sight of their enemy. Only their ally.

"Can we save him?" Hitsugaya asked quietly, careful of his intrusion by maintaining a wide berth. Ichigo was crouched over Grimmjow's tattered state with his back turned, spiraling through his own headspace in disbelief.

And then Ichigo had the final memory. It jolted his mind, sent pain singing through his chest to remember it. He'd been dying then, that's why. He was remembering his final moment of life and how much it hurt.

{*XOXOX*}

YEARS AGO…

IN HUECO MUNDO…

THE DAY ICHIGO DIED…

_Aizen's blade had skewered him. It didn't feel real. That level of suffering could almost never be real. His brain begun to delude him into believing there was no pain; merely a numb, hollow resonance of the penetrating motion of Aizen's blade. Ichigo stuttered on an effort to say something as he woke up mentally to Grimmjow's presence. _

"_Ichigo, don't talk," Grimmjow told him quickly, glancing worriedly from his chest to his face. "Don't talk."_

_Ichigo coughed in air, but regretted trying almost instantly. It was no use. The brink of life and death had been crossed already. But Ichigo's eyes prompted Grimmjow to keep talking anyway. _

_Grimmjow had a lot to say. "Ichigo…I…You'll come back, you know. You'll come back to Soul Society. The others will find you. They'll take you in, they always said, when you died they'd just make you a Shingami, they…Ichigo…" Grimmjow waited, lost in his own mind. When he spoke, it was softly. "Can I tell you something?"_

_Ichigo couldn't feel anything anymore. He had no sense of time. The only tenuous connection he had to the living world seemed to be Grimmjow's voice. He smiled to encourage him._

_Grimmjow felt the pieces of what he meant to tell him fall together as he spoke."I'm already dead, Ichigo. I passed from the human world and forgot my past life. But I…remembered my previous self when I met you on the battlefield that day. I had died on Earth a long, long time ago. And it was a Shinigami that came out of nowhere to pick me up when death came. He…was just like you." Grimmjow paused, holding onto his breath as though he might need it, before gushing, "Ichigo, I followed him. And he brought me to Soul Society. I thought he would stay with me. He'd been so great while he escorted me over, but…it turns out that was just his job. To comfort the dead. It worked as comfort while he stayed by me, but, as soon as we got as far as these towns, he said goodbye and it all went away. I ended up travelling, searching for him. I got lost. It got dark. And I fell into Hueco Mundo…and became this. But as soon as I saw you, Ichigo, I felt human again. And I was just that lost kid looking for his Shingami friend. He's gone now, whoever he was. They replaced all the great ones with amateurs and weirdos- that Hitsu-whatever kid and his snobbish Bya-thing," Grimmjow said, and he was motivated by the twitch of Ichigo's returning smile. "But I found him, Ichigo. After all these years, I found what I was looking for. You're the Shinigami I needed, in the end. And you know, the day I first met my first Shinigami, I thought they were angels." Grimmjow smiled through the prick of tears that came out of nowhere, surrendering himself to the wave of desolation that held him."I was pretty close, huh?" _

_There was a languid pause. Ichigo finally touched his face, laying his fingertips on Grimmjow's matted blue hair with great effort. It was gentle, almost weak, but he kept it there. There was nothing in his eyes that suggested he was dying. _

"_You know why he didn't come back for me, even after I strayed to Hueco Mundo, and got lost, and became this?" Grimmjow asked Ichigo, suddenly completely aware of every breath he took in properly. "Even after he told me he'd be there and even after he stood by my side and walked me into a new world safely?" The silence stole a moment."Because he forgot about me. And I never got to ask him if he really wanted to stay with me. If he loved me. Please, Ichigo…tell me you love me…" Grimmjow pleaded, Ichigo's tightly gripped sword pressed against his hand with a distinct clack, "…Before you forget about me."_

{*XOXOX*}

PRESENT DAY…

SOUL SOCIETY

A WEEK AFTER LEAVING THE TOWER…

Hitsugaya threw his glare to Renji. "Say that again."

"Reword it maybe," Byakuya suggested at a whisper in Renji's ear. They sat close enough to do that now days. "Try suggesting he's the only one alone out of choice, instead of making it seem unfortunate."

"What's this whispering?" Rukia asked with a bright smile, seated across from the happy couple on a bench in Byakuya's endless garden. "Is it perhaps…private?"

Byakuya kissed Renji's ear when he was finished conspiring into it. "Don't mind them, they're children. But say nothing until it filters through me, just in case."

Renji snorted, about to lean up and align their mouths when a faraway movement caught his attention. Byakuya followed the direction his eyes went.

"What is it?" He recognized the person walking along the far end of the path, towards the fountain, before Renji could answer him. The orange hair was unmistakable. "Oh. Ichigo."

Ichigo kept going further and further. He made it feel as though the garden path never ended. Then he disappeared behind some foliage.

"Probably Grimmjow," Renji said slowly. "He's been missing him."

Byakuya shook his head. "It is sort of quiet without him, which is strange." Renji met his gaze. "I never used to mind the silence."

Ichigo couldn't hear them at his distance. He wouldn't have been able to hear them even if he had been closer, anyway. His thoughts would have drowned them out. It was beginning to become clear to him just how much daylight he'd spent with Grimmjow, now that he found himself with an overabundance of free time.

Ichigo sat down on the edge of the fountain, watching the cool water swim around the lily pads. Almost able to feel the chill that wafted off the water's surface. He was watching his own reflection when suddenly, he thought he saw shapes of blue and white enter the space behind him. He didn't look back though. That happened a lot. He was beginning to think it might be dangerous for his health to hallucinate so often. It was only when the solid touch of someone's hand met his shoulder that he thought to look behind him. He'd never felt his heartbeat stop and start up again so quickly.

"You're awake," he said to Grimmjow, so elated that he forgot to mind his friend's injuries.

Grimmjow flinched as Ichigo pulled him into a hug, but he returned the embrace with equal vigor. Despite the protest of his bandaged wounds. "I couldn't sleep," Grimmjow told him, feeling so light headed he was sure he shouldn't be capable of standing. "I came to find you."

"Well, you shouldn't have," Ichigo burst suddenly, remembering why he'd left Grimmjow alone upstairs in the first place. "You need to rest if you're going to heal. And I'm a distraction."

Grimmjow reclaimed the hand Ichigo had ripped from his back, using it to draw him forwards until their outlines melded together. "You're a distraction anyway," he admitted. He dropped his mouth to Ichigo's and kissed him slowly.

Ichigo didn't resist as he probably should have. He touched the closing cut on Grimmjow's face when it was over, and Grimmjow rescinded momentarily.

Ichigo smiled. "You know I remembered everything, right?"

"Yeah."

"You know that's not supposed to happen, don't you?"

"Ichigo, you and I were never supposed to happen." Grimmjow gripped him tighter. "But I kind of like that we had to fight for it."

There was a passing gust of wind that ruffled their hair sideways. Ichigo pierced his eyes against the force, opening one only slightly afterwards to catch sight of Grimmjow above him. He smiled at the sight of the cut on Grimmjow's face again, involuntarily touching it.

Grimmjow commented this time, amused. "Ow. What is your obsession?"

"That's gonna scar, you idiot."

"So?"

"So, I'm glad in a way." Ichigo leant back against Grimmjow's bandaged chest, assured he'd find support there.

Grimmjow didn't flinch, a little proud to be the pillar of someone so strong. "Why?"

Ichigo smirked. "Because you'll always remember me."

{*XOXOX*}

The End~

{*XOXOX*}

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed it!~ :D

BTW, I know I'm going to be receiving a few concerned queries as to what became of Ulquiorra. :P He went on to live a fulfilling life somewhere. Heck, he can be part of the group now if you'd like to imagine it! But he definitely lives; I just felt the emphasis should be on these two—GrimmIchi. ^^

Thank you to everyone who followed this story through until the end! And a huge thank you to my BETA Reader, DancingElf! :D

I'd love your thoughts!~ 3

~MadeOfSunshine


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